Awakening Absence
by StalkingForChocolate
Summary: Empty absence ripens the heart. 'She stared at her reflection in the mirror.This wasn't who she was. Yuuki watched as the remains of her long hair billowed to the ground. Tears fell.She had to find him-find him before it was too late' ZxY,KxY,KnxR,AxY,SxR
1. Beyond The Crossroads

**Author's Note – Okay, a further introduction into my new fan fiction. This is my first real serious fanfic – so go easy on me X3. I've decided to write a (hopefully) realistic series continuing from chapter 48, so if you haven't read the scans and don't want to – you probably shouldn't read this as it will contain many spoilers. But for other people please give it a try!**

**I want to make this story, as close to the feeling of the original as possible, so therefore I will do justice to every character, despite my own preferences… I want to fight OOCness in all of its glory!!! XD So anyways – on with the Story!**

**The songs for this chapter are 'Shattered' by Trading Yesterday and 'Song To Say Goodbye' by Placebo. I'll put an '*' where they should be played.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own any of the characters (except some characters I might make up in the future) or the original story of Vampire Knight. I can't quite draw that well unfortunately… The only thing that is mine is the added plotline.**

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Chapter One – Beyond the Crossroads

_Yuuki_

The pitch black swept across the night with no star in sight, no light. Just the smothering darkness that clenched around Yuuki with menacing arms as she swept hurriedly across the dust- the swamped courtyard of Cross Academy, hand in hand with her Onii-sama by her side, the man she loved.

They were travelling at a very fast pace as it seemed that Kaname wanted to leave this now wretched and dilapidated corpse of a building that had been her home for so long, as fast as they could possibly muster. Every brick, every memory was blurring past as they were abandoned behind her at the crack of a whip.

At the moment of time Yuuki had no wish to defy him. She wanted to leave this place as much as he did and grant herself freedom to forget. His hand gripped hers firmly and she ignored the discomfort that was flooding through her – not because of her brother's anxious grip, she relished in how protective he was, but because of the turmoil spinning webs of confusion in her mind.

Discomfort was such a laughable word when it came to expressing the feeling of unbearable pain, which spread through her blood, suffocating every cell in her body.

Her mind was desperately trying to grasp all that had happened in the last heart-wrenching forty-eight hours. Not so long ago Yuuki had been a fragile, insignificant human and now she was a vampire – a beast disguised in a human mask that hungrily devoured blood and life energy from others. Furthermore, she wasn't only that. She was a princess of all vampires, a being who had the power to bring all of them to her feet. She was a pureblood, one of the last descendents of the Kuran family. Nothing could ever be the same, and much of her energy was spent adjusting to her sensitive vampire body.

Her eyes had been opened and suddenly she had become increasingly more aware than before. Smells inhaled easily and were distinct, varied, in her pale nose. Sounds rang more pronounced in her ears and she could identify pitch and tone with outstanding clarity. However, the biggest change of all was a factor that ruled all the instincts in her body – the sudden and all too clear, yet delicious awareness of all frothing, moving blood surrounding her - blood so easy to reach and bring to her lips if she chose to.

It was so very tempting and always occupied a small fraction of her swimming mind, its ghost teasing the back of her throat.

Adjusting however, was not so hard a feat for Yuuki as she had thought before and part of her was scared by the fact, making her shiver involuntarily. Everything was starting to feel natural, familiar. When she wiped away her tears, her fingers felt her own, the same as they always did, as they touched the tender skin underneath her eyes – despite the fact that she knew it was different, smoother and paler as if alabaster. Her legs had grown, and she was taller – but she could run as easy, no – easier than she could before. Most of Yuuki's human self was being invaded by the 'new' Yuuki, by her senses and urges. She had no choice but to accept it. Or no – she wanted to accept this. This was who she really was – something that she could never change.

In a strange foreign way, part of Yuuki, she guessed, had known who she was all along, and now that her eyes had finally fluttered open into this darker world, she felt a newfound freedom that she had never tasted before. Yuuki had migrated from a small childlike sandbox to a larger cage with bigger room where she could play. Really, it was a most reasonable exchange – she had no reason to complain. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but miss that little sandbox – no matter how small and shallow it was. She still couldn't bring herself to forget and regret the life she was leaving behind with Kaname.

That was where the real turmoil fell into place.

She couldn't completely let it go, at least not yet, no matter how much she strained to deny it. She was leaving her friends behind. It was hard to imagine that she'd never again see the cheerful face of her goofy Oto-san who couldn't cook a proper meal to save his life no matter how hard he tried, or her day class classmates who had shared her school experiences, who had supplied with her with a good work out every time she had to restrain them at the Moon dorm gates. She still couldn't help but treasure the sweet smile, and companionship of her best friend Yori, to who she owed so much and who had always managed to comfort her in times she couldn't stand. She even despaired for Yagari; the stern but thoughtful part time Vampire Hunter, half time ethics teacher, full time badass. Then of course… there was Zero.

No! She silenced that thought as quickly as it had appeared. She wasn't going to allow herself to think about Zero – it was too painful. She had no choice but to numb up all thoughts and feelings for her old fellow guardian and lock them deep within her heart where she could barely feel it – otherwise she felt that it might just break and shatter into dust. She would have to disconnect, silence the part of her that was threatening to bleed into tears.

At least Rido could no longer torture her, twist her mind to his dark ways. That was the only lonely pleasant thought she could produce amidst the overwhelming crowd of reminders of tragedies, darkness that had hatched in such a small amount of time. But unfortunately, even that thought didn't warm her heart. The way her uncle had looked at her, said her mother's name – there was a hidden sadness in his eyes that she had rather she had not have noticed.

Whether she liked it or not, Yuuki was going to move on with Kaname and start a new fresh chapter of her life. A chapter with a new focus: her and Kaname. She had no idea as to where she was going, where she was going to end up along her journey far into forever - but she trusted her brother with her life. She knew he'd never put her in danger and would rather die, a trait that worried her sometimes to no end.

He would always be by her side, her crutch when she needed it. She used that thought to try to propel herself out of her heavy depression but her spirit barely lifted and a smile didn't quite grace her face.

Shadows of trees sped past across her vision, as one foot dashed after another.

Yuuki examined Kaname's cold majestic face, which seemed to her the majority of the time so heart-warming. His bold features were handsome and angular, his dark brown hair hanging orderly to frame his face, and he wore a dark commanding aura that constantly surrounded him. She frowned at his grim, stern expression. What had happened to the Kaname that had always been so cheerful and calm during her childhood?

_I suppose Oniisama has been through a lot of pain alone when I was human._

Yuuki's face fell and her eyes grew watery. That was why she had a responsibility, a strong will, to stay by his side from now to forever. She owed to him at least that much. She rubbed the back of Kaname's hand softly as they walked. He sighed gently at her touch and looked at her face with a sad smile.

"I think we can go on from here", he said softly as he came gracefully to a stop.

Yuuki glanced around swiftly at the tall, dark, looming trees, frowning in confusion. ? Why had they stopped? Surely this wasn't their destination? It couldn't be because he was tired? It took a lot to tire a vampire. When she felt she could almost gather enough courage, she turned to ask him, but he had already moved. In a flash, he was standing behind her, his face resting on her shoulder. Yuuki's heartbeat sped slightly, as she could feel his breath tickle her neck.

"Close your eyes", he whispered in his commanding tone, and her eyes drooped closed.

Yuuki could feel him hang his arms around her and she let out a little scream as a blast of wind battered her front and sides, her hair flying wildly around her. She felt significantly lighter, almost as if she was a feather, floating in a storm - drifting speedily away and she became less aware of her surroundings, her own body feeling non-existent as well as the towering body behind her. The wind continued to threaten her balance and she knew that if she were still in her human body she would have fallen over with no effort at all. It strangely held the same aura as of Kaname and she felt suffocated by its might, losing herself in its power.

Gradually the battering came to a shuddering stop and Yuuki felt herself come back to Earth. Everything was steadier - the ground beneath her feet, her composure, her now slower breathing. The air was cool, and the slight cold met her shoulder as Kaname left her back leaving it bare. Yuuki opened her eyes with a start and gasped.

The woodland landscape had vanished and an ornate white stone corridor was revealed to be in its place. The corridor's ceiling arched gracefully in delicate circular waves and beautiful sculptures were carved in its smooth texture, roses and thorns entwining in a beautiful array. The whitewashed stone corridor was lit with glowing torches, and it was impossible to ever see its end, even with Yuuki's vampire-enhanced auburn eyes. This was a place she feared was larger than she could ever imagine.

"Where are we?", she mumbled quietly, taking in the scenery.

Kaname turned to her and stared her straight in the eyes as he spoke, his face shadowed in the dim light.

"This is where we'll live from now. A place I've prepared exactly for this moment".

If she was addressing anyone other than Kaname, she might have rolled her eyes at such an uninformative answer. Instead she nodded, eyes wide, taking in the daunting sight of her new home. Her Onii-sama brought a finger to her chin, rubbing it gently under his skin.

"My dear girl will be safe now. As long as you remain here – There's no chance you could ever be harmed."

Yuuki nodded, ever touched by her brother's loving concern. They paced down the corridor together, passing various doors until they reached a large open area, revealing a set of very large old rich oak doors.

Yuuki tentatively pushed one door forward onto an exquisite dining room, furnished with a grand long dining table which stretched to be the length of the room. It gleamed under the raining chandelier of glittering glass, which captured beams of light and tilted them into different directions, highlighting every corner of the room. A black, reflective grand piano waited proudly in the far corner, ready to be elegantly played and a pure white marble fireplace gave shelter to a flickering nest of flames to the side.

Who had lit them? Would she meet other people here, living in this vast place?

A creaking sound echoed throughout the room and Yuuki spun her head towards the door set on the opposite side of the room. Her question was answered as the patter of little feet announced the arrival of a small girl with grey, shiny hair swaying below the shoulders, and big lilac eyes. Yuuki choked on her breath, her hand twitching to cover her neck. She had never once thought that she might set eyes on that girl ever again. The little girl named Kurenai Maria stared piercingly in her direction, a light blush flushed along her two cheeks.

"Oh hello Yuuki-chan", giggled Maria in her high soprano voice, curtsying in front of her, feet light and arms graceful as if she was a little ballerina.

Yuuki's mouth had fallen open and she closed it quickly, her face an icy white. Questions rose to her lips and she turned to her brother in a daze. Kaname's face remained expressionless as he opened his mouth and spoke,

"Kurenai and I have a certain understanding. She assists me in managing this mansion and insures that everything runs smoothly, while I supply her with a home". His eyes flashed, as he spoke.

Maria giggled again, her laugh ringing like tinkling bells.

"I'll always be in your debt – you have all my thanks Kaname-sama", her voice came out shy and small as she bowed in Kaname's direction

A small smile widened, flashing her blindingly white, orderly teeth and fangs.

Yuuki stiffened, a shiver managing to creep up her spine. She didn't know what was wrong with her – this was exactly how she had seen the real Maria after she was freed from Shizuka. She had been shy, sweet and timid – and apparently still was now. But something felt wrong. Maybe it was because of Yuuki's unease, but something about Maria seemed off… unnatural.

Why had Onii-sama taken an interest in the former night-class student?

Yuuki chewed over what their relationship could truly be, but no good reason stood out.

She wasn't quite comfortable around Maria, especially when she had been so tied up with Shizuka. Yuuki knew that Shizuka had been controlling Maria that fateful night so long ago, and that Maria was perfectly friendly albeit a little _too_ friendly, but was she really trustworthy enough to stay so close to Onii-sama and herself?

Yuuki sighed. There were still many things she had yet to discover about her brother. Now that she really thought about it – she never quite knew what he was thinking, what he had done in the last ten years without her, while she had been staying oblivious in her human form. She didn't know much about him at all. She loved him so very much.

Yuuki stifled a yawn. Ever since she had been bitten and converted into a vampire, she hadn't recovered her strength. Maria skipped shyly up to her and beckoned for her to follow. Yuuki snatched a quick kiss from Kaname before heading after her sleepily, earning a small distant smile before disappearing out of the elegant room and into another corridor at an impressive speed. She waited outside the room as Maria shut the door behind them, all sight of Kaname disappearing after a great wooden slam. Yuuki's wrist was then grabbed, as the petite girl surprised her by dragging her through the corridor at a running speed.

"This is fun! I was so dreadfully bored after dear Shizuka-sama died… but now Kaname-sama is so very…. interesting", she giggled in her high soprano vocals, her eyes flashing as she looked back into Yuuki's flustered face.

Yuuki started and quickly registered with shock how little Maria's character had changed when they were alone.

"I'll show you to your room Yuuki-chan!", sang Maria, cheerfully as she continued to 'guide' a flustered Yuuki through the maze of marble passageways.

She sprang to a halt in front of one of many doors; this one being particularly grand, carved with a beautiful illustration of a landing dove, and smartly turned the knob with a gloved hand. The door clicked open and Yuuki was practically shoved into the Grand Bedroom that awaited her.

Her eyes widened as her eyes grazed the spectacular features of her room. The walls were painted in a soft rosy pink and yet another fancy chandelier dangled from the high ceiling. A gigantic wardrobe took up half the space of the ridiculously large room, and was filled to the brim with variations of extremely fashionable clothing to Yuuki's surprise.

At the end of the room stood an extraordinary four-poster bed, draped with fabrics of rich blood red, matching the billowing curtains that flooded the walls in waves. Why the walls needed curtains when there were no windows, Yuuki had no idea. She had a feeling that this mansion she was now living in lay underground. A silvery full-length mirror leaned casually against a wall near the wardrobe, its substance so clear and reflective that Yuuki almost found herself believing that she was seeing her double.

Yuuki shovelled out the few items she had brought with her on her journey, including her Artemis, various clothing and a few other necessities, storing them in her new room. They looked a little out of place in the stunning bedroom, and now that she realized it –so did she.

Although Yuuki's face had been altered slightly and made more beautiful, she somehow managed to see the ghost of the old, ordinary Yuuki staring back at her in the mirror – and it made her feel…lowly… unsatisfactory.

She'd never be perfect enough for Kaname, inside and out, but Yuuki decided to try hard to become someone who could be.

She really was out of place - but as far as the room went, she realized there was one thing she had that wouldn't be, something that could really compete in beauty and wealth. Yuuki took out gently the little glass encased rose from her bag – the very one Kaname had given her as a present, and balanced it lovingly on the bedside table, just as she had done at the academy along with her other most prized possessions. She gazed at it a little while. It truly was astonishingly beautiful and it took her breath away just looking at it.

However it did seem lonely without the portrait of her old self and Zero, she winced, by its side. Yuuki closed her eyes and sighed heavily, feeling a pang in her heart. She had to leave it behind; no matter how much deep within her she wanted to stare at it late into the approaching night.

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Zero *

The last rays of the sun beamed down upon the spot where Zero knelt on the rotten dark earth below, wiping his black hands on his matching day class trousers. It made no difference. His hands remained stained and dirty. He slowly rose from the ground gazing at the sky with strained amethyst eyes, breathing hard.

Zero was digging a grave under the branches of a sakura tree for his dead brother Ichiru. It was a dark cloudy day, matching his mood, and he had nearly finished digging a large human-length pit as night began to near.

Despite Zero's vampire strength, digging the grave had taken enormous amounts of willpower. His heart burned within his chest and he had never felt more alone in his life, but that was how he deserved to be – forever. He was a stranger in this world; he wasn't really part of it – an intruder, and never would. He'd roam this forsaken earth until his debt was paid, and then he'd finally be able to rest and whither into nothingness.

Zero really was a monster, a beast. Ichiru had been his kindred soul, one of the only people that truly understood him, who had power to mend part of his haunted mind – and he had devoured him. All that was left now was the empty cadaver sinking into the debris below by his feet and the rich blood that ran through Zero's veins.

Zero lifted Ichiru up into his arms and laid him gently inside the grave, watched sombrely as his lifeless face descended into the rich soft soil. It was disturbing, burying his brother – the features mirroring his own gave the impression Zero was burying himself, and part of him wished he was. There was however a crucial, blinding difference between the face of his dead younger brother and his own. Although they shared the same wild, shining, silver hair and the same pure lavender eyes – Ichiru's fair face held something Zero could never obtain. A sense of peace, happiness and acceptance that illuminated all his features inside that grave beneath the sakura blossom tree.

Zero brought up his shovel and focussed his eyes down as he slowly started to cover Ichiru's body with dirt. A blast of wind billowed and frail petals of pink fluttered through the twilight sky to rest on Ichiru's face and amongst his hair. Zero could imagine him faintly smiling.

He felt himself shudder as he continued to heave up the earth with his shove, the repetitive metallic sound it made ringing in his ears. Zero froze, and brought a hand up to his face below his eyes, feeling wetness with his fingertips. Was that what he thought it was? Was he crying? He had thought he had lost all ability to cry long ago – yet streams of tears ran down his face, at a quickening rate.

Tremors vibrated through his body and he concentrated all his strength on piled dirt up into the grave. He cried silently for Ichiru, cherishing memories of their childhood, when they had been one instead of two separate beings, never one without the other.

He remembered how comforting it had been feeling that he was part of something, that he was never ever alone. He conjured up easily in his head the gentle, fragile face Ichiru always seemed to wear, always there to support him.

The tears kept on coming, and the shuddering wouldn't stop, and Zero found himself swallowed by a black hole of never-ending sadness. He wept for the loss of his parents, the fate they met, the monster he had become, his brother – and then he found himself crying for Yuuki.

Yuuki… He groaned, clutching his aching chest. Past sweet images of Yuuki tormented him, making him bleed devastatingly from the inside. How he longed to see her once more – not the present, empty, pureblood, Yuuki – the cheerful, beautiful old Yuuki who he had fallen in love with.

Her smiling angelic face plagued his mind endlessly. His whole body cried out to touch her once more, her soft full lips, and her small gentle hands. He craved to wind his hands in her soft brown hair, feel her snuggled in his arms once more. He longed to gaze into her warm captivating auburn eyes and swim in their love forever. He wanted her back – but she was no longer a being he was allowed to crave. The old Yuuki barely existed, but it was too late. She was only a whisper on the lips of the pureblood that had taken over her body.

Yagari watched his student with pity behind, hidden in the trees. He dared not intrude. This was a moment Zero needed dearly and it couldn't be disturbed.

The sun sank slowly to leave a filling darkness as the last shower of dirt fell on the awaiting grave, leaving Zero exhausted and silent, listening to the deadly silent atmosphere, knelt on the ground.

He stared, now emotionless at the grave. It wasn't finished. It was a plain enlarged lump, rather than a dignified place for his brother to rest. It needed to be marked with something, but he had nothing to give. A slight whistling noise rang throughout the air and Zero spun in a flash to catch a katana, thrown in his direction. It was the katana Ichiru had been using from when he had travelled with Shizuka, the very sword that had once threatened him.

"I managed to find that buried in the remains of the Moon dorm and knew it would be needed", Yagari stepped out into the open, his long rough leather coat hanging heavily by his feet, the ever –present cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Zero spun the sword sideways and held it with two hands, the hilt and blade sliding into separation. He ran his fingers across the shining mirror blade, and then turned to his old sensei and nodded slightly before plunging the katana down beside the grave. Yagari breathed in his cigarette intently and tipped his shadowing hat to the grave in respect to his other prized former pupil.

"This grave would be to his liking – your brother", he blew out a puff of smoke into the air, "under the cherry blossoms where he belongs, kind-hearted and fragile just like the petals which fall to the ground. "

Zero remained silent, his back to master, his eyes fixed on the now ornamented grave. Ichiru hadn't deserved to die. Zero's hands clenched slowly into fists. The dark clouds above shuddered as a current of thunder struck the sky, making the ground almost tremble.

Those damn purebloods. He felt his teeth dig angrily into his tongue making him taste blood. They all had to die, and by his Bloody Rose. He would slaughter every pureblood with its thorns until they were drained completely from this Earth, using every earned death to propel him further in this hell he was tied to. He would strip himself of every emotion, every feeling, hope, memory from the past that distracted him from his objective.

The old, naïve, caring Zero was now dead, leaving a colder, empty, and hollow Zero instead. What was love anyway? It hadn't served him, helped him at all: it was a hindrance. He had allowed himself to open up, to dedicate himself to the only person that had truly mattered to him, cared for someone, protected that person with all the fibre of his being – but in the end, it had only hurt him to a point where if he didn't have a duty to carry out he wasn't sure he could take it anymore. He was doing this to protect himself, and to supply himself with enough hatred to bring all darkness to an end, otherwise his caring side would hold him back.

Zero buried all that he was deep inside him in a cage where it couldn't get out: his old life had come to an end and he was starting anew. When he would come across Yuuki once again, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her – and then he could finally be released and kill himself at last, the past obstacle forever put aside. He would be nothing but dust scattered in the black where he had always belonged. Whether he had loved Yuuki in a past life or not, wasn't going to prevent him from what he had to do. The soft Zero who was in love with her was now long gone. This funeral was one for both Ichiru and himself: the Kiryu Twins, his final goodbye.

"Going to hunt after the purebloods are you?", chewed Yagari once more, casually on his cigarette, his one startling blue eye studying Zero's turned back.

Zero slowly turned around and looked him straight in the eye, his own eyes now narrowed, cold and lifeless. Yagari stiffened and the cigarette in his mouth fell out, sailing limply to the floor. Zero secured his bloody rose in his pocket, the chains rustling chillingly in the tense thunderous atmosphere, the hidden thorns present, but unseen.

"Are you planning to stop me?", the dead words stretched lazily from this mouth. Yagari gave him a meaningful look.

"I have no intention to die just yet – but I will accompany you. You are still my student and you're still-", his voice growing stern, he wasn't going to give up without a fight, "my responsibility".

They stared each other down, the heavy rain striking down from above, soaking their clothes. Finally Zero walked out of the clearing, Yagari following in his lead, his giant boots crushing the sinking wet muck below.

He had quickly interpreted Zero's face and understood what he was doing, leaving everything behind. It pained him that events had turned out like this; he would give anything to see his young student smile once again. He paced solemnly through the forest, when he heard a faint sound of bells under his feet, despite the now raging storm.

He bent down swiftly and plucked out the bells that had belonged to Ichiru – and Shizuka before him, and placed them in his jacket pocket, storing them ready for that distant hope that Zero, now the rightful owner, would someday want them back.

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**I forgot to mention before – I've read the manga and the anime so sometimes I get them confused, which isn't so good since they differ slightly from each other. That means my writing is kind of the two of them merged together, although it should lean more towards the manga. (The anime is not entirely on my good side due to the CRIME that was committed at the end of 'Vampire Knight Guilty').**

**For people who haven't seen the anime – the bells mentioned in this chapter were attached to Shizuka's robe and became one of her trademarks. When she died, Ichiru took them (and wore them in his hair which looked a little….never mind XD). It's supposed to be symbolic somewhat, and that's what made me want to include them in this chapter. I hope that's cleared that up for you.**

– **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!! I'm not totally convinced this is good, and may lose inspiration because of that – so keep me going if you like it - I've really enjoyed writing this! Next chapter will be coming up shortly.**


	2. Blood and Missions

**Author's Note – Happy Easter everyone! This chapter is my present to you all. It may not be chocolate but I hope you enjoy it anyway! So far in the story everything's still setting up, but I promise the story will really move soon enough. Also, we don't know much about Mrs Aido and Shirabuki Sara so I've had to make up my own personalities for them – I hope you'll like them. Please review! :D**

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Chapter Two – Blood and Missions

Yuuki

Yuuki let out a soft sigh as she awoke smelling the sweet rose scent wafting from her bed blankets. She was sprawled out over the bed, dominating every space she could, her hair spreading out wild like a sun all over her creamy pillows, her feet rubbing against the bed's soft sinking mattress.

She groaned as she heard a loud rap on the door of her bedroom, mumbling. It was probably Zero barging in again, as he had annoyingly grown accustomed to doing recently.

Yuuki stubbornly kept her eyes glued shut as she grabbed one of her pillows and chucked it so that it sliced through the air in the direction of the noise to show her appreciation.

"Why thank you for the greeting", rang a voice like bells.

Yuuki shot up from the bed in an instant, her eyes snapping open as she realized that it was Maria that had knocked on her door – not Zero.

Of course not Zero.

The warm blankets suddenly felt to Yuuki, colder. Yuuki regained her composure and watched, slightly irritated as Maria floated about in her new bedroom.

" I think you might want to dress in something nice this morning", danced Maria as if she was ballerina.

"Why is that?"

"Kaname-sama is waiting in the dining room for breakfast, I have a feeling he would take pleasure in it", she turned sharply to Yuuki, "or do you not want to?"

There was something about Maria's manner and speak that made Yuuki feel almost like she was being interrogated. What was she really questioning?

"Of course I want to please Oniisama", she got up gracefully and brushed her hair back with her fingers, swiftly.

"Give me a minute"

Maria pranced lightly outside the room and waited until Yuuki appeared in the doorway, dressed in a rich red morning gown. She smiled and took her wrist, tugging her almost violently once again through the maze that was now her home.

Yuuki wondered, flustered, if this was going to become a daily routine. Instead of going to the large dining room from yesterday, Yuuki found herself 'driven' to a room especially prepared for breakfast, where she found Kaname absent-mindedly eating his breakfast, watching blood tablets fizz and dissolve into water inside glasses spread out on the crowded table. A large selection of foods was displayed on its shiny wood surface and a large icy glass tin of blood tablets lay in its centre.

She reached out with a pale hand and pulled back a chair, sitting soundly down on its sinking cushion, wary of Kaname's eyes on her. She held his gaze, and they froze there, staring into each other's red-tinted eyes. Kaname lifted his glass slowly to his lips and let its contents fall into his mouth, the blood barely satisfying his thirst.

Yuuki felt irritation ebb into her bloodstream. Oniisama shouldn't be forced to take such meagre measures – when she was at his service – ready as a sister and lover to soothe any burn of thirst that ached at the back of Kaname's throat. Yuuki rose fluidly from the table and walked slowly towards her fiancée. He watched her intently, the silence ringing through the air as she inclined her neck towards him, sweeping her long brown locks out of the way over her shoulder. Kaname gently took her head in his hands and bit into her neck, satisfying his thirst on her delicious blood.

Yuuki felt confused – this wasn't the first time a vampire had taken blood from her neck. She remembered faintly with her numb heart how it had felt when Zero had been the one pressing his soft lips to the nape of her neck, drawing out her blood. At the time, all she could see, smell, feel was Zero – her awareness, her very existence, had been invaded by the touch and presence of Zero.

Now with Yuuki's love prying on her neck, what she felt was something different. There wasn't the same tension in the air and it felt natural, casual almost if it wasn't for the loving gestures Kaname made as they held contact. His hand smoothed her hair, his other ran down her face. Yuuki's heart was racing at an inhuman rate, (which would make sense since she was a vampire anyway) and swelled with love for the gentle man that sat beside her. This experience was warm, intimate and she loved it, ignoring the lack of electricity she had once shared with that other man –she silenced that train of thought harshly.

Yuuki grabbed onto the Kaname's back and urged him closer, struggling to forget the little tickle at the back of her brain that was starting to itch.

The Night Class – The Trio

The blue marble was tossed up into the air, twinkling in the bright sunshine that was making Aido Hanabusa's eyes hurt. Kain Akatsuki yawned by his side and Souen Ruka leaned on his shoulder as she emerged from the slick black car they had borrowed from the Souen household.

She squinted her eyes and winced from the taunting sunlight that weakened her, taking her sometime to adjust before she could see clearly the Aido mansion, which lay beyond the tall, towering black gates that rose in front of them.

Aido felt particularly nervous returning back to his home again, he had enjoyed getting away from some of the politics at home – the night class had been a glorious thing for him. Now he had to come back, for information concerning the council and most importantly Kaname-sama and he was dreading it.

Hanabusa wasn't going to give up on him; it was his duty as a friend to support him however he could. He couldn't make himself abandon him as he felt he owed Kaname too much, and he was still struggling to atone for his selfish ignorant childhood attitude. He would show Kaname-sama know how much he meant to him. He didn't care if it took months – no years to find Kaname-sama and Yuuki Cross – he would do it.

Ruka was equally determined to find him due to her infatuation for the pureblood and Kain, well Kain would always follow in her footsteps – if he wasn't stuck taking responsibility for him that was.

Kain silently pushed open the large bold gate and the three of them walked meagrely towards the front door of the Aido household down the path. The front door seemed unusually large and daunting when Hanabusa stood before it, and he gulped.

"Just do it you baka!" hissed Ruka, earning a glare. Akatsuki sighed.

Aido clamped his now slightly sweaty hand on the brass knocker and knocked three times. A light tapping of footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. Maybe – just maybe if he started running now, Hanabusa could somehow make it past Akatsuki and Ruka and disappear before the door opened…

The door swung open to reveal Aido's cheery butler, peering at the three of them with his round monocle. Well snap.

"Master Hanabusa! Akatsuki-sama, Ruka-sama! You're back", his eyes twinkled and he smiled broadly.

"Come in, your parents will be pleased."

The three night class members mumbled a greeting and stepped inside to meet a marble hallway, showered in portraits of the Aido family. This mansion was just as grand as the underground mansion the Aido's also owned and had used for the noble's party recently this year – but it had more of a homey feel to it and it was the house Aido-san and his wife liked best.

For a moment the trio stood still in the hallway unsure of what to do, and where to go – but then the fateful clacking of high hells sounded and echoed throughout the hall as a seemingly young women, dressed in a silk sapphire dress gracefully stepped down the opening stairs in a dignified manner. She appeared to look like the female version of Hanabusa with her floating blonde hair and startling blue eyes that perfectly matched her dress. It was clear that this was the flirtatious blonde's mother.

Mrs Aido stood still, frozen on the spot, staring at Hanabusa in the eyes, her mouth trembling slightly.

"Hanabusa", she choked out.

"Okasan" He gulped loudly – the sound distinct in the echoing room.

Kain and Ruka watched helplessly, wincing as the Mistress of the Aido line walked swiftly up to her son and smacked him harshly across the face. Hanabusa could feel a flare of red heat mark his cheek, and became startled as his mother let out a sob and threw her arms tightly around him, embracing him with relief. A thick sheet of crystal ice wrapped itself around him as his mother prevented anyway for him to escape.

"I was so worried! Why didn't you call!?", she panged a fist against his back hardly with a thump. The biting ice rubbed into his back. Aido tried to reply – but to his dismay, couldn't – due to the smothering of his anxious mother.

"All the rumours I've heard about that dreaded Cross Academy! Being attacked by Rido!", she squeezed him so hard he could barely breathe, shards of ice cracking and falling in a halo around them on the shining floor.

"You should have just STAYED OUT OF IT! You always walk into trouble and cause me a heart attack".

Hanabusa blushed slightly and gasped with relief as he was finally released, the ice melting and drenching all his clothes – but Mrs Aido was far from finished with her rant. Now it was Akatsuki's turn. His russet brown eyes widened and he had no time to prepare himself as he, too, was struck across the cheek and embraced. The ice however instantly started to melt as he subtly heated the layer beneath with his summoned flames.

"And you! You're supposed to look after him and ensure he doesn't get into any trouble – and you FAILED! I was so worried for you too, my dear nephew! Never EVER do something like that again". Akatsuki couldn't keep any promises.

Mrs Aido stood back and grabbed the noses of both her son and her nephew, demonstrating as she continued to mutter in her frantic feminine voice.

"You should have kept your noses out of it! Purebloods are not meant to be dealt with – they deal with you."

She let go, leaving the boys' noses significantly red. Ruka was left standing behind, awkwardly, tangling her fingers in her long velvet hair to soothe her nerves. Finally she was noticed and Kain became alarmed, standing closer to his female companion, tracing his aunt's movements sharply with his eyes. He knew she meant well, but he couldn't allow her to hurt Ruka, not even if she deserved it.

He needn't have worried.

"Ruka my dear", she stroked her face affectionately with a hand covered with shining jewelled rings.

"My! You have grown so beautiful since you were a little girl! I remember when the three of you were little as if it were yesterday. You're a clever girl, I'm sure you had a good reason to partake in the recent events at the Academy, I won't be mad. Thank you for looking after these two"

Hanabusa stood dumbfounded and started to protest.

"Okaaaaaaasan!!!" Ruka had been as much involved, as everyone else – how was she in the right?

"Quiet you!" He earned another blow to the cheek and scowled. Ruka put on a smug smile.

"Glad to help". Kain had to restrain his cousin, as he suddenly grew bloodthirsty. Mrs Aido seemed that she felt she had said enough and a calm, placid expression shaped her fair face, making the trio almost wonder if she was the same person. She seemed to have multiple personalities.

"Your father wants to speak with you. Come quickly – these are dark times and we have some business to take care of".

She frowned and floated through the house, a trail of watery silk billowing behind her as she guided the young vampires into the grand living room of the house. Hanabusa and the others hurried in without sparing a glance at the beauty of the house, having visited the manor an uncountable amount of times before since their childhood. They were all accustomed to glamour anyway due to their noble birth and often took it for granted.

The Aido butler walked faithfully behind them and removed their coats in turn, taking them away and they sat down elegantly on the satin couch of the room, graciously accepting expensive china tea from a maid of the house.

The head of the house was already present in the room, looking out the window in a smart crisp black suit, pensively with a dark pipe resting in his mouth.

He raised his eyes and turned around as he registered that his son and friends had finally returned to his home.

"So you did decide to come back then, did you?", he turned his back to the window, satisfied just looking out at the view below. He was yet another blonde but lacked the wild curliness of his son's hair.

"Yes Otosan", gulped Aido. It was a stupid question to ask and he wondered if this was just a way for his father to worsen his nerves as punishment for not contacting sooner. He could never relax in front of his father, always feeling that he had to meet his expectations and avoid disappointment.

"I've already scolded him for irresponsibly risking his life to help those human students", Mr Aido's wife cut in, "I told him he should have left everything well alone".

Hanabusa's rich blue eyes flashed, and seriousness echoed on his face. "I will not apologize for saving those human students. I refuse".

Mrs Aido seemed surprised that even her unruly cheeky son could have his serious moments, and stayed silent. It seemed a lot had changed since before her son applied for the night class.

"Have you served Kaname-sama well Hanabusa? It's very important that you have. The vampire world has been deeply unbalanced by the disappearance of the council and it would help our family greatly", he paused, popping his pipe into his mouth briefly before continuing.

"We never know what he's going to do next, especially after he massacred the entire vampire council – it would be wise if we stayed on his good side, otherwise it might prove the end for us as well".

Ruka started to protest and Kain put a firm hand on her shoulder to silence her. She ceased talking at once. Nothing needed to be said, he understood. Kain and Ruka had always had a strange relationship, from Aido's point of view. They were good friends and one hardly went anywhere without the other, but he was starting to wonder mildly if what they had was nearing to a little more than friendship. Aido frowned – but then again Ruka was besotted with Kaname-sama, so he supposed that his intuition was just his overly inquisitive mind.

He turned to his parents.

"I trust Kaname-sama, whatever he's got in mind will be for the greater good. I'm certain of it. That's why we have to find him, wherever he is – so we can help him! So I can help him and make his life that little bit easier. He needs his real friends at his side." Hanabusa started to sound desperate.

"No! You have to stay here! I won't allow you leave!" exclaimed his Okasan. A stream of ice began to creep its way up to their coach and the three of them stiffened.

Mr Aido attempted to get her to shut up, but failed miserably. He sighed; he was getting too old for this. As much as loved his elegant wife, she was hard to handle when she was passionate with affairs.

"It isn't safe out there! Now that there is no council, the world has come to chaos and all civilisation has fallen to pieces, the peace extinguished. Level Es on the rampage, people of our kind feeding on innocent blood recklessly, the Hunter society corrupted! I even heard young Ichijo-san was kidnapped, his grandfather, Asato-san murdered!", she wiped a small tear away with one of her white satin gloves, touched by her own speech.

Aido having taken a large sip of his tea, spat it out abruptly onto Ruka. Ruka didn't even notice due to shock and Akatsuki sat frozen on the couch, an ice sculpture melting from the heat of the unexpected news.

"Ichijo got kidnapped?", Akatsuki choked.

"Yes it is regrettable", sighed Mr Aido, running a hand through the tresses of his hair, the wrinkles showing more on his icy skin.

They were all shocked –it was painful to imagine what fate awaited such a cheerful vampire like Dorm Vice President Ichijo Takuma. How had everything manages to go wrong so quickly and drastically?

"Does anyone know who's taken him?", stuttered Ruka slightly, eyes still wide at the shocking information.

"No but it must be someone powerful for him or her to be able to kidnap a vampire of such strong rich blood like Ichijo Takuma.", replied Hanabusa's Okasan.

It was true. Aido had rarely seen anyone as agile with a katana as his friend Ichijo – it would certainly take a lot to defeat him. He couldn't find anything to say, there were so many things that he had to take care of and he wasn't sure right now he could cope. What had happened to the calm – well calmer, days he had spent with his closest friends in the moon dorm at Cross Academy? A hint of a smirk sparked in the corner of his mouth – he had never thought that one day he would truly appreciate the bizarre school, feel that it was a second home. It was ironic that now it was too late and that the school lay abandoned far away, dilapidated and finally free from classmates and the ever-swarming fan girls. He smiled sadly – he had always been entertained by that aspect of the school. Good memories.

Mr Aido broke his train of thought.

"As for the matters concerning Kaname-sama, I understand you're willing to find him and I know that I have no hope in stopping you anyway."

His wife gaped, her stunning eyes narrowed angrily, "I must protest!" She brought out an intricate fan and fanned her face repetitively, her eyes welling slightly making them glisten.

Her husband gazed softly at her with soft sad eyes, his equally blonde hair rustling slightly as he turned to look at her.

"Hanabusa is a man now", Hanabusa swelled with pride, trying to look dignified in front of his cousin and his childhood friend. Ruka smothered a snort.

"He has a part to play in these politics as much as we do, we cannot afford to stop him and his friends – although I wish it wasn't so. Don't think this is going to be an easy ride though Hanabusa-chan, there are no shortcuts and there will not be an easy road", he ignored the answering scowl, "you're chasing a pureblood – good luck."

He seemed somewhat amused as he said this but turned grim shortly afterwards.

"Kaname-sama strikes me as a person who will never be found unless he wishes to be. I know nothing of his whereabouts, but you are the ones who should be able to tell me – you know his character far better than I ever will, the three of you. He'll probably be in a place of his own comfort, a reliable base. Think about it, you may get lucky – if not…", he took a long drag of his pipe," they always say the best way to find one pureblood… is to ask help from another pureblood."

They all absorbed this. Kain nodded solemnly while the others still looked aghast at the news.

The rest of the afternoon was spent answering questions concerning the matters of the night class. The Aidos insisted they needed to know every event that had occurred at Cross Academy. They questioned Kaname's motives, and Ruka and Hanabusa found to their dismay that they had no clue, wondering if they really knew him as well as they thought they did. The Dorm President had always kept these matters to himself and he was an extremely hard man to decipher. They feared to try, fearing that it might be too painful. Some things were better off left alone, and Kaname seemed like one of those cases, although they strived to disagree.

Mr and Mrs Aido were especially intrigued about the discovered Kuran princess: shocked that one actually existed. No doubt this was a piece of information they would spread throughout the other aristocrat families. It was important that everyone was aware of the present situation. Farewells came sooner than expected and the members of the night class were warmly embraced, softly this time, by the mistress of the house, earning a soft kiss on each of their foreheads.

"Do what you know is right", she whispered in her son's ear.

Aido remained silent and stared into his mother's eyes wondering if he would ever see them again. Then he shrugged; of course he would, although anxiety still gnawed at part of his brain.

Kain lead the way out of the front door and into the yard, the other two following solemnly. The world really was in a mess. They had two people to search for, with no clues to where either of them were. There wasn't the option that they could abandon either of them. Aido's mind swam – he really was too much of a baka to decide what had to be done now in a scenario such as this one, so deeply irritating and stressful.

Akatsuki sighed after a while and picked up his mobile phone, balancing it under his right ear. Ruka clutched his arm and they exchanged a look.

"What?...", started Ruka

The dialled number had already been entered and Kain waited patiently as the phone rang, connecting with the other side of the connection.

"Hey Shiki – are you there with Rima?"

The other two could faintly hear another voice on the other side of the phone.

"We need to talk".

* * *

Ichijo

Consciousness was starting to reach him and he felt pained. His body felt pummelled, as if he was ash crumbling from a fatal blow and he almost wished he could remain unconscious because of it, numb from the harsh reality. He groaned slightly and opened his eyes. How come he wasn't dead? He had been sure he would be, lying limp under the crushing wreckage. He had been planning die after he had slayed his grandfather. But unless he was mistaken he seemed to be very much alive and he wasn't sure where he was. No familiar face could be seen and Ichijo felt tense, aware of a very cold, sickly sweet presence in the room.

His eyes scanned the room he was lying in, trying to take in his surroundings. The entire room appeared to be carved out of dark grey, solid rock with a low ceiling. A thick layer of steam coated the air, the water condensing on his skin. The whole room gave the impression of crowded web, providing whoever had spun it a feast to last the year round – as on the ceiling were hanging hundreds of puppets with dangling limbs. An endless maze of strings protruded from the puppet bodies, snaring joints and features in a tangled mess. Seemingly thousands of glassy, empty eyes glared into his own jade orbs, and weapons were attached to many of the different models, sharp and glistening in the little light Ichijo had to see with.

There was a vital point about these puppets that he couldn't quite pin down, and he stared at them with penetrating eyes. These puppets seemed very well made, and realistic, the features looking almost as if they were real, the hair appearing the same texture as his own.

That's when he realized with horror they were exactly as they appeared, puppets made out of human parts, sewn precisely together to make the ultimate seemingly artificial puppet.

A shiver ran down Ichijo's spine and he turned his head searching rapidly for his katana. He could see it, barely in the far corner of the dark room. Ichijo tried to get up and retrieve it – but found that he couldn't. Both his hands and ankles were bound to the large slab of wood he was displayed on as if he was a dish waiting to be served. Taking in count the murderous content surrounding him with beady dead eyes, he wondered if it wasn't impossible that that simile might be accurate.

Ichijo had always had a calm, carefree attitude about him, but being in this scenario, he felt himself start to panic and sweat. There was no doubt that he was in trouble. He had no choice but to just lay there with no idea what there was in store for him.

" Have you enjoyed examining my grand collection", came a soft feminine voice from within the shadows of a dark. Ichijo jumped, cutting himself slightly on his shackles, peering into the darkness to identify the owner of the velvety voice.

"What do you want with me?", he let out, distressed.

A strikingly beautiful woman dressed in fancy clothing stepped out, sweeping her hands delicately among her puppets, smiling slightly at her creations. She glanced briefly at the fair boy with the jade eyes and straight blonde hair before returning her attention back towards her beloved puppets.

"Each one of these puppets take a long time to manufacture, but I always put my whole soul into making every one of them. I've always loved such things. Ever since I was a little girl I've loved puppets", she released a tuneful laugh.

"And that was a long time ago. Don't they just amuse you?", she ran her finger down the buckled boot of the nearest puppet who wore clothing that was worn around two centuries ago, with breeches and a tailcoat.

"How they can bend to your will so very easily, how you can… restrain their movements, control them – lead them astray, and yet they have no choice but to smile".

Ichijo lay frozen, wary of the woman who walked aimlessly about the room. He could tell at once, that this woman was no ordinary vampire. She was a pureblood and he knew he was powerless because of it. Now that he saw her face he realised that she looked familiar, he could have sworn he had seen her before. Ichijo filed through his memories, trying to remember when and where he had seen her. It clicked, he had seen her at the ball that was hosted by the Aido's family – this woman was the pureblood known as Shirabuki Sara.

Sara glided across the floor so that she stood above his laying figure, and began to caress Ichijo's cheek, trailing down to his neck. He felt himself shiver and closed his eyes, unwillingly to see as the pureblood bent down and seized his neck with her mouth. Fangs sliding into his skin, she began to partake blood from his neck. Ichijo winced, hating being so vulnerable and helpless as his captor feasted on him hungrily. There was nothing he could do; he had little power compared to a pureblood.

Shirabuki eventually lifted her chin, the sweet blood trickling on her face.

"Ooooooh I love when I have some new material to work with", she smiled widely, her white fangs flashing.

She pulled out a mirror and pouted as she cleaned her face, admiring her reflection before returning the little handheld mirror to its home on the 'bed' side table.

"Unfortunately for you, you will not become part of my collection", she curled a large lock of hair around her finger.

"I have a more important use for you, my young puppet, so I shall keep you incomplete".

Tremors rose through the ground and Ichijo's eye widened as he saw strings of blood travelling from Shirabuki's fingertips to his body, attaching themselves to his body.

Ichijo yelled in pain before his mind plummeted back into darkness.

**So there it is folks! Chapter two of Awakening Absence. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think – I don't bite… (licks teeth) Of course not… BWAHAHA.**

**For people who haven't seen the anime, the blue marble belonging to Aido, which was mentioned earlier is symbolic of Aido's adoration when it comes to Kaname. Long story cut short, the marble was basically given to Aido from Kaname when the two of them were little and Aido, Kain and Ruka were playing in a sandbox.**


	3. Dreams and Closed Gates

**Author's Note – Helloooo my faithful readers!**

**I give to you my third chapter! This one's the longest yet – hence why it's taken me a while to update. I promise I'll update as soon as I can in the future. It's a very busy time right now. I've got school again and exams are coming up –shiver- which means revision so yeah… Anyway, about this chapter… I know some of you were looking forward for some SenrixRima action so you get a lot of that in this chapter. I have to admit I wasn't very fond of Senri and Rima before, I thought they were a little boring – but now I have to say I REALLY enjoyed writing about them. Fanfiction seems to have awakened some Senri x Rima in me so yay! It's quite refreshing actually because their relationship is so much less complicated than every else's – it's quite a normal romance without any trauma a.k.a Zeki, KainxRuka –cough cough- The other pairings will take a little while to truly start as Yuuki and Ruka are still being thick and Aido won't meet with Yori for a while. But stick with me people! I promise it will be good!**

**Lastly, 'Everytime' by Britney Spears goes really well with part of this story. I've put a '*' where it should be played. Yeah, I'm definitely not a Britney fan but this song seems to really suit Yuuki so I recommend it.**

**Disclaimer: Okay Zero, tell him…**

**Zero: She doesn't own me or any of the original characters in the plot. Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino, but the plot is created by StalkingForChocolate….**

**Me: Yay Zero! I love you!!!**

**Zero: Go away… I love Yuuki… (glare)**

**Me: Awww…. dammit… **

**___________________________________________________________**

Chapter Three – Dreams and Closed Gates

_Yuuki _

Yuuki had no idea why she was surprised. She should have guessed a mansion as large as this would have at least one secret passageway in its depths.

She had been living in this place for almost a week now and she still was yet to be convinced she had explored every room, nook and cranny within this house – and she planned to.

It was her mission during her what seemed to be becoming a lengthy stay as there wasn't much to do otherwise and it was easy to become bored.

The last few days Yuuki had explored various rooms, examined every gown, skirt, jacket in her newfound collection of her wardrobe, and even spent time attempting to learn to play the piano, residing abandoned in the dining room.

The other day, the pureblood princess had been lucky to discover a room housing a large lapping fountain set lie a jewel amongst a bed of soft varying coloured flowers. How had the flowers been able to grow, lacking the rich sunlight of the outdoors?

Yuuki felt I a way akin to the flowers. Despite being a creature of the night she had been raised I the shining sun and although it might hurt, she longed to taste its bright rays once more.

Another time Yuuki discovered a library consisting of thousands of books, coated carefully in delicate covers of rich colours, sharing knowledge differencing from history to science, fiction to atlases. If there was any time she required any information – this was the first place she would turn to.

She hadn't seen much of Kaname as he seemed to disappear throughout the day or worked for long periods of time in one of the many studies – on something that remained a mystery to her.

She only really saw him properly once in the morning to share breakfast and once in the evening to share a spectacular dinner – something she wasn't used to after the Chairman's horrendous cooking.

The mansion was so large it seemed almost more like a miniature city than a private property suitable to live in. The corridors were often so long, Yuuki learned to pack refreshments and a supply of blood tablets to satisfy her cravings as she set off on little journeys to explore her 'domain'.

It would take too long to go back and retrieve food from the kitchens and come back – especially when she was eager to discover new things about this place.

Most of the rooms Yuuki had already attacked were bedrooms. She found they all differed slightly in their decor – and it was while examining these numerous bedrooms that she found one that intrigued her in particular. It was a cosy room, shedding more of a homey feeling within its walls – but then so did the others – no, that was not the reason it stood out. The reason was, if one pain close attention to its features, it appeared that this room had once been inhabited.

There were, similar to her own room, a grand selection of clothes hanging in the large armoire, from which she gathered that the late inhabitant of the room had been a woman.

There was a magnificent cabinet, which appeared to be surprisingly locked. Yuuki probed out with her mind to the elaborate piece of furniture and sensed that there were indeed a collection of old objects scattered inside its drawers, although regrettably Yuuki's powers limited her from identifying them any further.

It was in this room that she found the secret passage way. To anyone else the mirror lying on the far wall of the room would be nothing but ordinary. But to Yuuki's perceptive eyes – she noticed a slight disturbance in the liquid reflection in the mirror. The reflection was tilted so very slightly – yet the mirror hung straight, parallel to its wall.

It took her exactly six steps to reach the altered mirror and to touch it, running her hands down its cool, smooth surface. He fingers brushed along a crease, which lay near the right edge of the mirror. This was no mirror it was a door. Yuuki felt a steam of excitement rise within her. She hooked her fingernails around the crease and attempted to pull the door free and open. It wouldn't come loose from its mirror frame.

Anger tinted her brain and she frowned at its stubbornness and placed her hands firmly on the edge. She searched inside her for that awakened power seeping through her and gathered it in her hands, pushing it through to the mirror.

A thunderous crack vibrated through the room, echoes bouncing from wall to wall. The mirror door started to become clearly visible and she used one last blast of power to burst it open, revealing a little stone winding stone staircase behind it.

Yuuki brought her arms back down to her sides with grace and she smirked at the heated power that spread throughout her veins and blood. It felt so good – the capability to do anything she pleased without paying a price.

Walking slowly inside, she climbed the stone staircase, ignoring the open door now behind her. The staircase was long and rose high through the building and Yuuki speculated how far underground this mansion really lay. It was ridiculously deep under ground. Every step she climbed seemed to glow a pale white at her touch – and it occurred to Yuuki that this staircase might have not been built by hand, although the thought was crazy. She couldn't be surprised any more if it were the case. Vampires, hunters, weird powers, crazed identical twin brothers – she had seen it all.

The top stair was incredibly far up, but she reached it with her determination, relishing in her small yet meaningful victory. All there was now between her and her new destination was another door, which it turned out could be easily opened, to Yuuki's slight disappointment.

She started to open it slowly and gasped as rays of sunlight streamed in and highlighted the cold, slightly glowing staircase behind her. The door was opened completely and Yuuki felt tears slide from her eyes onto her face at the pain inflicted on her auburn orbs and the sheer delight of the outside.

This was an exit from the mansion. Before her feet, fresh, rich, green grass flourished amongst speckles of daisies, smiling their haloed faces up to greet the bright, all-seeing sun.

Yuuki stepped out and bent down to run through the healthy sun-kissed grass and flowers, taking pleasure in the glow the sun produced on her icy skin. The only thing that marred this image was the gigantic towering gate, which prevented any escape. Not that she wanted to anyway – but it still bothered her.

The black gate rose high in front of her, gleaming as the sun shun down in the open meadow. Yuuki stretched out a hand, gingerly towards one of the bars and grew startled as the ground began to tremble violently beneath her feet, grumbling as if it was a hungry beast below her. A current of wind threaded through the dark tresses of her hair as in anticipation of the result of the wavering hand.

Yuuki frowned and again felt irritation flood through her body deeply – it was as if her surroundings were attempting to warn her. She snorted. As if she needed to be warned.

She was a pureblood – and she possessed an ultimate power most beings could never even dream of. Fear was a waste with the power she held. Yuuki smirked and clasped the bar boldly, feeling confident and invincible.

She only felt confused as a blood red gleam flooded to embrace the once night black bars. Her hand started to throb as a majestic power radiated underneath her skin.

"YOU MUST STOP! The Master will punish you dearly if you don't!"

Yuuki yanked back her head towards the source of the voice. A golden eyed girl, adorned with a black dress and lacy petticoat, stared, aghast – ash black hair leaking out of a bun blossoming from the behind of her head.

Yuuki stared in shock at the only other vampire she had seen besides her Onii-sama and Maria since her arrival at the mansion. So surprised was she, that the words didn't register in her brain and the now quaking, clattering of the grasped gate escaped her notice.

Only when her vision was blinded by a flash of crimson red, bars of the gate reviving as serpents, ensnaring her vulnerable arms and legs, did she turn rapidly.

Yuuki's eyes opened wide and she attempted to free herself, gathering her power and energy to concentrated areas of her body – straining to pry away the slithering shackles - but to no avail. The alive bars of the gate flexed around her and released, flinging her effortlessly, violently into the air away from the gate – in the direction she came.

Using vampire agility, Yuuki flipped mid air despite the roaring speed, landing steadily on the ground with impressive skill.

Oh she was okay after – invincible. Yes… of course she was…

She caught sight of the vampire maid looking over fearfully. What had that maid meant by Master? Surely she didn't mean Kaname? – was Yuuki's last thought before shaking, at an abnormal rate and collapsing suddenly to the daisy floor.

_____________________________________________________________________

Yuuki's eyes lifted groggily and she registered after a second that she was not in the same location and position she had last been. Her head was propped up on a soft supportive pillow, her body smothered in a rich warm blanket.

She hiccupped as she realized she was in a bed. Not just any bed. Kaname's bed.

She gulped.

Yuuki was becoming more confident with her self, – but when it came to Kaname she wasn't quite fearless enough to rest in his bedroom – never mind his bed.

Perhaps she could slip out quietly and pray to Kami that no one would ever know that had been in here. Soundlessly she turned over the corner of the blanket, her toes peeking over the edge of the bed.

She gasped. Someone had changed her into a nightdress. Surely it hadn't been K- no, he would never do that without her permission – and Kami forbid that wasn't going to happen anytime soon – Pureblood or not pureblood. Yuuki cursed mentally as she felt her face go from the colour of white snow to red, just like that event a little over ten years ago.

No, it must have been Maria or that mysterious golden-eyed servant she had met earlier. As her brain took this in she sighed with relief. She proceeded to climb out of bed and turned when finished to restore the position of the blanket when she froze.

Kaname was standing on the other side of the bed, his two hands planted flat on the bedspread as he continued to watch her intently as he had been doing this entire time.

Yuuki stared down at her tiny feet, blushing lightly as she fought brutally against her embarrassment. She sneaked a look at him from under her falling hair, wondering if he would say something, break the silence, and perhaps tell her off for being here. He didn't utter a word, satisfied to just gaze into Yuuki's avoiding eyes.

She felt vulnerable and awkward; it felt like her onii-sama was staring right into her, into her very soul. A portrait nailed to the wall with the gaze of a critic as he studied the brush stroke of her features.

"Never go there again. I will know."

Yuuki assumed rightly he was talking about the gate and realised that maybe it was Kaname's who had enforced that gate and its repelling power. That would explain the majestic aura.

Now she felt even worse.

Yuuki decided to leave the room; eager to return back to her own so she could recover. A hand seized her shoulder as she faced the door and she couldn't help but let out a little whimper – tensing at the touch of his firm hand.

"Stay with me tonight", were the words that echoed in the room in his smooth, gentle voice.

Yuuki's bones morphed into jelly. She tried to open her mouth and reply but found that his words had rendered her speechless, his commanding aura disabling her tongue. She was pulled firmly into the bed by his leading hand. She had no choice anyway it seemed.

They both lay in the huge double bed and Kaname brought her close so that they shared the same pillow, touching side by side. There was nothing about this, his body was warm and it always had been when Yuuki remembered they had shared a bed when they were small. She felt comfortable and the intimacy was touching - she couldn't get herself to relax.

She felt hyped up, tense and jumpy, a slight chill setting on her skin, soaking through her nightgown. She loved Kaname, but right now she couldn't help but wish for some distance to soothe her troubled mind.

In this position, Yuuki defeated the impossible and fell into a deep salve of sleep.

_____________________________________________________________________

_Yuuki and Zero *_

_It was a sweet summer day – one of the sweetest she had ever known._

The day was dark – a sea of smothering clouds that invaded the conquered sky, smiling cruelly at the event they witnessed.

_The night had been long and arduous and both of the guardians had escaped sleep._

Zero pulled out his Bloody Rose and Yagari grimaced as it gleamed in the sun that streamed in through the cracks of the hovering clouds.

_Zero was nowhere to be found and she felt so very alone, burdened by the duties she was forced to carry out on her own._

A sickening sound could be heard as the first thorn started to appear, materializing from out of the gun like liquid metal, pointing at a right angle out front.

_She decided to take off from lessons, huffing as she searched, irritated, for her partner. He wasn't in the Sun dorm or in the Chairman's headquarters…_

Thorns continued to slither out as if serpents from the shiny metal of the gun and the young man ignored the pain as thorns bit into his skin, feeding like parasites on his blood as they swelled around his arm.

_She took to searching around the grounds outside, making a mental note to punch Zero when she found him._

Soon the thorns covered the entire right side of his body, his black flannel shirt ripping as it clung to the side of his chest.

_She spotted him lying down, leaning against a large oak and galloped up to him ready to give him the scorning of his lifetime. She reached him and stopped._

The Bloody Rose balanced, poised to the vampire's head. A drop of blood trickled down as a thorn grazed the pureblood's face, camouflaged by his mane of bright flaming red hair.

_He was asleep, his head supported gently against the rough bark of the tree trunk – his face peaceful. Yuuki's anger dissipated and she couldn't help but to just…look at him._

The vampire summoned a shadow to try and push the hunter and his gun away, the darkness wrapping around the gun tightly. Zero used his strength, struggling to still the now heavier, trembling gun. They were locked in close even battle and Yagari had no intention to help.

_Zero's face looked so delicate, vulnerable as he slumbered. Tresses of shining silver hair fell lightly across his face. His eyelids looked smooth and his lips soft, slightly parted as he breathed deeply, his broad chest rising and falling._

The pureblood pleaded with his eyes as he stared into Zero's merciless face. The trigger was pulled and released, the shadows losing their grip around their victim and his gun. The pureblood plummeted slowly to the ground. Dust made waves throughout the air at the impact.

_Yuuki started to turn, satisfied to let him sleep a little more. She froze. A gentle, loving smile spread throughout his face in his sleep – and something about him took her breath away. He seemed so angelic. Zero rarely smiled, and when he did it was never like this; so carefree, so soft. Yet here he was, doing it now – so easily. It was then, when it gradually disappeared, that Yuuki decided that she would do all she could to make him smile that again when he was awake._

A cruel smirk, was Zero's reaction as he watched the fallen pureblood lying almost lifeless by his feet. His eyes remained cold, empty and he turned back, ignoring the husk of a vampire who breathed his last breath and shattered into thousands of little pieces of glass.

_That was the first time out of many Yuuki dreamed of Zero since she became a vampire._

That was the second time Zero had destroyed a pureblood. He was getting closer to his goal.

_Would Zero ever smile like that again?_

_____________________________________________________________________

Senri and Rima

Senri had Rima pressed against the damp alleyway wall, one hand firmly above her head on its brick – the other lifting her chin gently with two poised fingers. He remained there frozen as Rima half closed her eyes at the pleasure of his touch.

One of her arms clutched Senri's back as if to bring him closer and her lips felt plump and full as they anticipated his touch. They remained locked together and a bright light shed, accompanied by the loud punching sound of a camera.

"Beautiful!" the photographer exclaimed. The beauty of the couple mesmerized him; the passionate tension dripping down through the air.

"Give me another one!"

Shiki leaned further forward, his eyes cloudy with passion as he strained to drink in the girl who arched her back towards him, her lips temptingly parted.

The photographer gasped.

"This is amazing! Keep it up you two!"

Both models posed so realistically yet artistically, bringing out emotions, so well grasped out into the photos. They were so alive…

"And that's a rap! Thank you everybody!"

The crew applauded and the two night class models relaxed, their expressions returning to normal – bored, dead and ultimately uninterested. The photographer gaped. They were just very, VERY good actors.

Rima yawned, examining the jewellery in which she modelled with mild interest.

"Alright let's head off – we're finished for the day."

Shiki nodded with no comment, just plainly taking his girlfriend by the hand as they walked out of the alleyway set.

"Hey! Hey! You're still wearing my outfits!", shouted the costume director, panicked.

Both Rima and Senri were dressed in chained, ripped jeans. Rima wore extremely high-heeled boots and Senri in elaborately designed sneakers. They wore tight pale shirts, which exposed Rima's elegant arms and Senri's impressive toned muscles.

Rima turned around slowly, while Shiki didn't bother.

"Can we not keep the outfits?", she asked in her dead tone.

The costume director started to retort but stopped as Rima's eyes flashed meaningfully.

This girl was really scary.

"Y-yes o-of course", stuttered the director, keeping her eyes down.

"Good – they aren't all too bad. I like it".

Not all too bad? The director thought. Each piece of clothing was made by top designers and was priced at the minimum a million yen!

The two of them walked swiftly away.

Rima and Shiki were a couple. Had she confessed? No. Had he? Of course not – that wasn't the kind of guy he was. They both couldn't stand the lovey dovey stuff. They barely touched; they didn't kiss… let alone go any further than that.

There was just an understanding they shared between them. Nothing needed to be said. He was with her and she was with him. That was all.

They both headed to a little café to have lunch, seating themselves at a table for two. It was a date. had he asked her out? No. Had she asked him out then? No. They decided without conferring to go on a date at the same time.

They were very similar and their minds worked the same way.

They both ordered the same thing and plopped some blood tablets into ordered glasses of water in silence. They didn't really care if anyone noticed they were actually vampires. They'd probably think the dissolved blood drinks were cranberry juice or something like that anyway.

Neither of them talked – they didn't need to. Rima stared out of the window lazily, twiddling her straw in her fingers.

A couple stood outside embracing, kissing tenderly, staring deeply into each other's eyes, utterly in love. Rima rolled her eyes at their affection, but a small chunk of her heart churned inside her chest.

It really was fine, how things were now. She and Senri were completely comfortable with one another. They enjoyed each other's company. They had that special understanding.

But would they ever be like that?

They didn't need to be intimate. They didn't need to confess themselves – but Rima couldn't help but take pleasure in the fantasy of Shiki declaring his love to her.

Without noticing, Rima sighed slightly.

Senri looked at her, curious with scrutinizing eyes. Rima sighed all the time – Rima being ever- bored Rima, but this sigh was different. He tried to understand what she might be thinking but couldn't find the answer. Rima noticed his gaze and shifted, letting Shiki seep into her eyes.

Not a word was exchanged and the silence dragged on – until a phone rang.

They let it ring for a little, taking them a while to realize that it was in fact coming from their table. It was Shiki's.

He picked up his phone and rested it under his ear expressionlessly.

"Yeah", came his bored, quiet voice.

Rima listened with slight curiosity.

"Yeah, she's sitting with me right now"

She could barely hear the other side of the phone.

_We need to talk_.

"Meet us in 'the Withering Rose' hotel, Room 109. It's in the abandoned poor sector of town so no one should disturb or overhear us".

Rima was mildly surprised as her boyfriend gave further instructions. He had always been the type to stay silent, uninvolved and do what he was told. But since the 'Rido' incident he seemed to take more control of his life. She was proud of him and planned to stay by his side as he continued to become more confident.

Kain, Ruka and Aido were apparently quite far way from here, so the hotel they were rendezvousing at was around halfway between their location and theirs. It would take a little while to get there but Senri had already booked the room. Everything was ready.

_____________________________________________________________________

Night was approaching and Senri and Rima reached the hotel, dressed in low key clothes, attempting to blend in with their surroundings.

Not that it worked.

Vampires were simply too beautiful to go unnoticed – especially when you had stunning rich red hair like Shiki or piercing blue eyes like Rima.

'The Withering Rose' suited its name, as the hotel appeared as if it was rotting and wasting away. Everything about the place was grotty, even the people, and especially the receptionist who greeted them cheerfully.

Shiki leaned over the desk and the receptionist gulped.

"Room 109, the key please"

"Could I have you name, sir", she asked flirtatiously, her warted eyelids batting furiously as she dangled the key. Rima's eyes narrowed and she snatched the key swiftly.

"That isn't necessary", she said curtly. She felt irritated and electricity subtly sparked from her fingertips behind the counter.

This ceased as Senri grabbed her hand and proceeded to find their room down the hallway.

Despite the room number, there were only ten rooms in the building – the number hoping to deceive onlookers that there were more rooms that there actually were.

The key slotted in and with much yanking, the door was wrenched open to reveal a , yes, grotty bedroom with only an un-made single bed, a small chest of drawers and ripped curtains.

Rima sniffed distastefully.

"Ugh…what a dump…"

They both attempted to sink into the stone hard bed, unwillingly, prepared to wait for the arrival of the others.

It didn't take long as they heard a large amount of quarrelling and nattering becoming louder on the other side of the door. Soon there was knocking on the door and Senri got up to meet it, greeted by the 'happy' face of Aido Hanabusa.

"I hate you Shiki", he accompanied this with a 'death glare' – in other words, a pout.

Rima smirked. Hanabusa was so used to endless glamour. It must be quite a change coming from the famous Aido holiday mansion to a cadaver of a one-person hotel room. Ruka also seemed disgusted and Akatsuki just seemed exhausted from having to deal with the other two.

Senri sympathized.

They all came in, Aido still pouting, and they managed to somehow fit all five ex-night class members on the lonely bed. The wood frame creaked and Kain grew pale, a sweat drop travelling down his face.

"So what is there that needs to be discussed? I assumed it would be important," asked Shiki, examining his fingernails. They had to be in perfect condition for modelling.

Kain, Aido and Ruka automatically looked grim and silence dangled in the air like pendulum, counting the time that wasted. Neither of them wanted to say it but it had to be done.

" We need to discuss arrangements", Akatsuki started slowly, " Takuma's been kidnapped".

The faces of both Shiki Senri and Touya Rima twitched.

"What a drag…" sighed Rima.

" No one knows where he is and I think we can all agree that we can't just abandon him."

Everyone nodded slowly.

"However, we also have to find Kaname and Yuuki Cross – I mean sama. So what should we do?" Kain finished.

"I'll find Takuma", declared Shiki with subtle determination.

"I can't give up on Kaname-sama", declared Aido.

"Me too", said Ruka. Akatsuki sighed. There would be no question where he was going then – not that he had expected any different.

No one bothered to ask Touya her decision. It was obvious.

" So while we search for Kaname-sama, you search for Ichijo. Agreed?" confirmed Kain.

Everyone grunted in agreement. The Trio felt relieved that they had managed to get that off their chests. Now Takuma might be saved.

Ruka's eyebrow started twitching. " So how will the… sleeping arrangements go?"

Everyone tensed and glared around at the others. Who would get the bed?

Aido sprang into action and shoved everyone off the bed, triumphantly. Everyone scowled.

"The bed is MINE!!!"

"Oh HELL no", stated Ruka.

Akatsuki slapped his forehead with his palm. Back to the bickering. Ruka attempted to push Hanabusa off the bed but he clung desperately to the bed frame.

"Nooooooooo", he panted, " It's… mine…" Ruka continued to shove. He was not going to get his way this time. Still he remained firm.

Shiki and Rima ignored them and resorted to lying on the floor without complaint. They lay side-by-side, comfortable to be close to one another.

Meanwhile, Ruka had taken further measures and had snatched the pillow, ramming it onto to Aido's head, whacking continuously.

"Will…not…let go…"

"DAMN YOU AIDO GIVE ME THE FREAKING BED!!!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Kain sighed and decided to get involved, knowing that otherwise this would carry on the rest of the night. It was like dealing with little children. How had he ended up with these two again? Oh yeah- he loved them. Well damn it.

Ruka stopped as he came over. He simply grabbed the back of Aido's sweater and lifted him up into the air, dumping him effortlessly on the floor.

Hanabusa could feel a bump rise on the side of his head. Kain helped Ruka up onto the bed and she smiled at him sweetly before shooting a smug look in his direction. Damn Akatsuki. He always let Ruka have her way.

They all decided to go to sleep. Rima however kept her eyes open, staring at her sleeping boyfriend lying beside her. She wanted to be closer to him. She wanted them to be real lovers. She wanted Senri to put his arms around her as she slept.

Shiki mumbled in his sleep and turned to his side, his arm hooking around her, bringing her close. Rima smiled and snuggled close to him, falling soundly asleep.

Twice that night Aido tried sneaking to the bottom in the bed to sleep and each time Ruka kicked him off back to the floor. Good god that woman could kick. Hanabusa had more than one bump on his head in the morning.

_____________________________________________________________________

_Kaname_

The chessboard was ready to play; the pieces positioned exactly according to plan, ready for him to bend to his will. His eyes grazed the little carved pieces.

His side was black, matching his personality, the darkness within himself. Some pieces had been altered. For example the black knight he had owned was now white, the enemy vampire knight who patrolled dangerously now on the other side of the board.

He'd always been an enemy anyway. He wanted to rip that man limb from limb.

His eyes fell on the tall black queen piece on his side of the board. This entire game was for the sake of her. He wouldn't allow himself to lose her. He would do whatever had to be done to keep her away from the white knight. It's not that he feared her to be killed. he understood only too well the vampire knight could never bring himself to kill the pureblood queen.

Those four years had fulfilled their purpose.

Kaname would mend this broken world of the vampires; he was the only one who could. He was prepared to commit any crime to complete his goal. There were sacrifices he had to make for the greater good. He would dedicate himself to this cause; it was the least he could do.

Although the word tasted bitter – tyranny was the answer. Even the king on the chessboard would do his part.

_____________________________________________________________________

**So there it is folks!!! I hope you enjoyed it! I spent a lot of time and effort on this chapter so PLEASE give me some feedback!!! XD I love to hear from you! You can give me criticism – I won't mind, and if I've made some spelling mistakes or something don't hesitate to give me the telling off of a life time and I shall correct them right away!**

**Also, I'm slightly confuzzled by the names. As I'm sure you've noticed, with some of the characters I keep switching their names around. Would you like me to stick with one or would you like me to keep switching? Senri or Shiki? Kain or Akatsuki? Aido or Hanabusa? Let me know! **


	4. Dancing and Shattering Tears

**Author's Note – Hey everybody! Here is the next chapter. It's slightly late, as I try to post a chapter every two weeks – but I was really busy this week so it took me longer to finish it. The next chapter will take longer too because exams are literally in two weeks – so it's mega cramming time – so yeah….**

**Anyways, back to this chapter. The drama's really starting in this chapter and we get to hear more from Zero – which is always fun for me. Don't get mad with Zero so far in this story – he's not himself – but that will end, trust me!**

**Keep reading and reviewing! I love to hear from you – and I don't care if it's criticism.**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Vampire Knight or the characters I didn't make up, right Yagari?**

**Suggested song – 'Bring Me To Life' by Evanescence. It's for the section with the star * (i.e at the very beginning)**

**Yagari: Hell no.**

**SFC: You know Yagari… you should really stop smoking – it's really bad for you…**

**Yagari: (glare) Shut up.**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Four – Dancing and Shattering Tears

*

Yuuki woke to find tears sliding down her face, making her cheeks moist. Her forehead felt clammy and her hands gripped the bedcovers. The air was deafeningly silent and she hiccupped as the wave of sadness crashed upon her. Her heart felt constricted, strangled, making her feel unable to breath. A tear sliced a trail down her nose and her chest shuddered. Her skin felt like a thin sheet of ice and she wasn't sure she could prevent it from melting.

She would forget. She had to forget him.

The shuddering wouldn't cease and she sobbed silently – the pain running through her body like a charge of electricity. Only did she stop when she felt a large hand run through her hair gently, drawing out the curtains of her face.

She froze and her throat contracted. A surge of self-hatred ignited in her heart and she felt black, coated in thick sin, which smothered her soul.

She didn't want to hurt him. She couldn't bear it. He deserved so much better than her. She was so wretched.

Yuuki closed her eyes in pain as Kaname's finger trailed down her face in a path of warmth and guilt.

"Was it a nightmare?" he asked steadily.

That triggered yet more tears to drip from her overflowing eyes.

No. Far from it – that was what was damaging her the most. She managed to nod crookedly. She'd have to lie to keep Kaname happy.

That was all she wanted.

A large arm slid around her with the grace of a snake and brought her closer to him. Yuuki tensed, urging her body to feel comfortable in his arms.

"Tell me", he whispered into her hair. Yuuki hiccupped.

"Tell me about that dream"

Panic swelled within as she strained to come up with a lie, a lie that wouldn't pain him. Her mind cast back to that time with Zero had woken from a nightmare long ago. Yes. She would use that one.

Yuuki avoided Kaname's eyes.

"I thought… I thought I'd killed you…"

Fresh tears welled in her eyes, as she felt suddenly even guiltier in a completely different way. She waited, in pain, for his response.

It came in a way she hadn't expected.

Kaname flipped her firmly flat on her back and crushed his lips to hers, ravishing her face in rough kisses. Yuuki was clueless as to how to respond, as her breath was knocked out of her. She lay limp as he continued to kiss her from above. It felt pleasant, his lips travelling over hers and she fluttered his eyelids closed, straining to enjoy more.

She could feel Kaname's mouth and his hair tickling her face. She was in darkness, with only the company of his lips – but as she lay there with her eyes closed, she gasped.

The black of her mind turned to silver, and she saw lilac eyes, smooth white skin and soft lips. She winced.

The darkness of her vision was invaded by an image, an image of a face, Zero's face.

His gentle face was permanently etched to her mind as she lay there on the soft bed. His pure lilac eyes wouldn't stop gazing at her with sadness as her fiancée took control of her mouth.

She desperately tried to push the image away and laboured to conjure up the features of Kaname in its stead within her mind – but brown morphed easily into silver and red into crystal purple.

She was fully aware that it was Kaname who lay on top of her in the bed, but the images of Zero wouldn't cease flashing through her mind. She fought angrily against her mind and started to kiss Kaname back at a hesitant pace. As they kissed together, Yuuki couldn't stop a tingle of fear pierce her.

What was wrong with her?

Slowly she registered his hands gradually travelling down her small body and her eyes flung open – an alarm ringing in her head. She began to tremble and he stopped, his dark red eyes scanning hers.

Why was it that she felt she was balancing on the blade of a knife? This was Kaname. She had known him her entire life. She would offer him all of it he craved it.

Yuuki couldn't stop shuddering. Her mind was working in slow motion and she felt she was swimming through thick oil, her movements' limited, unable to escape, drowning slowly. She was so confused she couldn't stand it. She had to ease her feelings.

Everything was more than she could take. She turned to her brother with wet apologetic eyes.

"Gomen Onii-sama. I need to be alone right now"

Yuuki gripped the bed covers and flung them off her, diving through the door into the hallway. Her chest rose and fell erratically. She ran blindly through the hallway. The lights remained unlit due to the time of 'night' and it was hard to see.

Her mangled hair flew around her face as she continued to sprint, her eyes red and swollen.

_I'm so sorry Kaname._

She stormed into a bathroom, bolting herself inside. She started to sob hard, her face a mix of sweat and tears.

The bathroom was typical, including a shower, toilet and sinks situated under a giant wide mirror.

Through the dark, Yuuki could faintly see her reflection in the mirror: a weak, bawling, miserable, little girl who stood broken by the door.

Within her raged a surge of anger and she let her power envelop her before smashing her curled fist square into the mirror's glassy surface, the hand meeting it with a large crash and clatter. Shards of broken glass showered to the tiled floor and the fragments sliced her small, lithe body.

_Why can't I let go of the past? Why can't I let Zero go?_

She lifted an arm and watched the meandering streams of rich red blood stain her skin until it lost its snow-white colour. She turned her eyes back to the broken mirror and saw patches of the shattered glass reflecting a blinding blood red as Yuuki's eyes glowed a deathly colour.

The pain felt surprisingly good; a distraction from her churning mind. Blood crept and spiralled from her tainted, damaged hands and tears of blood painted lines down her face. She bent over a sink, breathing hard.

_I won't be weak. I can't be weak. I can't betray Kaname – he's my life._

_So why can't I let him go?_

The door started to shudder and Yuuki ignored it. She wanted to endure her pain by herself. The door continued to shudder, refusing to stop and irritation began to seep into her blood. She bit her lip with her fangs angrily and waited for whoever was on the other side of the door to give up.

Fists bang on the other side endlessly. The anger grew over time and Yuuki unbolted the door fuming.

As the door opened with a slam Yuuki struck the intruder harshly across the face with a choked sob.

The golden-eyed maid crumpled to the floor, shocked.

"Yuuki-sama", she whispered, eyes wide, her mouth trembling. Her fists bled slightly from desperately banging on the bathroom door.

Yuuki's eyes widened in surprise – but she had no time to fret over an insignificant servant. It was time she learnt not to meddle with the business of a pureblood.

"The door was locked for a reason", she said coldly, before walking out back to her own bedroom.

Yuuki ignored the feeling of being watched as she entered her room quietly, licking the blood off her arms cleanly.

There she ignored the welcoming sight of the bed, feeling she didn't deserve it and curled up on the floor, rocking herself quietly to sleep.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Zero_

The reign of the purebloods was numbered.

There were still purebloods left in the world yet to be murdered, faces he didn't even know, could never recognize if he saw them. Yet he would find them.

This was a difficult mission for a young vampire such as him, he lacked information he needed to hunt down those he targeted. It was no use going to the Vampire Hunter Headquarters as the society was corrupt and the records of vampires were probably unreachable right now.

Zero was a wanted man.

It would be suicide if he openly infiltrated an enemy hotspot and demanded anything he wanted.

The mission had to be accomplished undercover and after much thinking he and Yagari had decided that the best way to collect information on vampires… was unfortunately from the wretched vampires themselves.

He had to go behind enemy lines and that was why, out of all places, he was situated here.

Here, in this ridiculously fancy ballroom amidst a gathering of glamorously dressed bloodsucking leeches.

Zero chuckled heartlessly.

_Looks like I'm right at home._

In order to blend in with the aristocrat vampire community and one of their pompous grand masked balls, Zero, for once, was elegantly dressed. He was dressed completely in black, excluding the loose white shirt, which hugged his chest. His trousers were night black except for the chain belonging to the Bloody Rose, which leaked out of his pocket in a ray of silver. A dark cloak draped over his broad shoulders and lastly, and most importantly, a rounded velvet mask covered most of the features of his face so that only his glassy lilac eyes and wild silver hair could possibly give away his identity.

When Zero thought about it, he supposed he looked just like Ichiru when Zero had met him again as the right-hand man of Hio Shizuka, after all the empty years he had thought him dead.

That was a good thing. If worse came to worse, perhaps the vampires would mistake him for his brother instead of the other more troublesome twin. He'd be better off.

Zero wandered aimlessly in the silver-themed ballroom, his ears attuned for any interesting, useful information concerning his prey. Yagari was also attempting to eavesdrop on the partying vampires – but he being just a human – and a legendary vampire hunter on top of that, he had to do his part above the ground where he couldn't be sensed by the ever-aware vampires.

Zero's hand hovered over his gun.

He watched as vampire nobles danced gracefully in the ballroom, swirling and swaying like swans in an elegant nest, dressing and swishing as flowers to the flowing music of the accompanying violins under a stilled rain of glittering chandeliers.

Quietly, Zero noticed the many correlations between this ball and the one he supervised back at Cross Academy. Part of his mind swam with the image of a delicate Yuuki in her white ball gown dancing lightly amongst the vampires.

No feeling reached his empty heart. He didn't care anymore. He only wanted to imagine Yuuki Kuran with a bullet in her head – nothing more and nothing less.

He continued to pace around the dance floor, his eyes shifting from one vampire to another. As far as his vampire senses could tell, none of the vampires he had seen so far were purebloods.

What measures would he take if he found one? It would be too dangerous to attack him or her in the heart of all these aristocrats. Again, it would be suicide. The option of death lingered endlessly in his life.

Not that death sounded entirely unappealing.

He'd have to lure the vampire out, preferably where Yagari was nearby. Zero turned his eyes to the next crowd of vampires and stopped mid-walk.

A young vampire girl with caramel brown hair and forest green eyes was staring at him with no reluctance, not bothering to hide her piercing gaze. She wouldn't turn around, her eyes fixed on Zero's masked face.

She wasn't a pureblood.

Zero turned, uninterested, and proceeded to walking around the huge ballroom.

It was as he walked off that a sharp pain slammed against the inside of Zero's skull like a barricade and he clenched his fists, his teeth piercing his bottom lip in pain. The faint sickeningly soothing taste of blood spread through his mouth.

He tensed, fighting to maintain his composure, surrounded by waltzing vampires who could threaten his life if they discovered who he was – and it wasn't time for Zero to die just yet. He couldn't allow himself such peace and relief when he had unfinished business with the scum who had destroyed his life.

Particularly a certain Kuran Kaname.

Zero walked stiffly over to the serving table on the far side of the room, scattered with fancy foods and beverages, and grabbed a glass of champagne – seeking alcohol to numb the headache which tore at his brain.

Once every drop had washed down his throat, Zero made to walk out of the bathroom, losing faith in his last shreds of sanity.

His feet, however, wouldn't move.

Zero's eyes widened, and a slight hint of alarm could be seen on his features before he restored his robotic, emotionless stature. Zero fought to free his long frozen limbs. As he continued to struggle, the pain in his head increased to the point it was almost unbearable.

Zero's breath caught and the champagne glass in his hand shattered into the air as if it was a diamond firework. He attempted again to force his body from his rigid spot near the food table. The pain blasted again with enormous force, causing him to wince. But of course - it didn't put him off.

Zero chuckled hollowly. He had suffered deeper pain than this and it could never be healed – it was a scar marring his heart. The pain he experienced now was laughable in comparison.

He was about to try and break free one last time, when a small icy finger stroked the curved of his cheek, tracing his angular cheekbones. He froze and turned his masked face to the side; meeting the finger of the young vampire girl he had seen earlier. She was dressed in a lacy white gown giving the impression of a draping snowflake, and had the appearance of an eight –year old girl.

"I sorry sir, I didn't mean to hurt you", she blushed timidly.

He glared at her from behind his mask.

Zero found he couldn't pull away from her eyes as they studied him. He felt irritatingly vulnerable, as the girl seemed to regard him as a complex code to be deciphered. The violins in the background grew hazy to his ears as the tiny vampire trapped him in a daze. His earlier pain began to fade away.

She broke the silence with a lazy sigh.

" Oh I just hate masked balls. It makes people so hard to read", she said quietly.

Zero just stared at her coldly.

"What's your name?" asked the girl, with a small smile.

Zero wouldn't answer.

"Mmm…now I'm even more intrigued", she chewed on her lip as if she was nibbling at a piece of sushi.

Her finger traced the smooth skin on the back of Zero's hand and he stiffened. He didn't know how, but the girl's very presence disabled his ability to move.

He was powerless.

"You see, I'm very talented at working people out – it's my own personal game", she paused, smiling slyly in a shy way.

Zero continued to stare, frozen amongst the slices of diamond glass, which lay amongst his feet. She stood on her tiptoes, and to his slight surprise, made him bend over so that she could whisper in his ear. By this time the pain he had felt previously had dissolved into the air.

"For example", she giggled sweetly.

"With that couple there…" she pointed with skilled subtly, "You can tell by the way the man gestures to his wife, that he isn't faithful to her. He's a vampire of noble branch and doesn't believe his wife will grant him a satisfactory heir".

She seemed to learn all this in the space of second. Was this girl really around eight years old?

She paused, studying the couple again more closely. Then she burst into a short fit of laughter before whispering once more in Zero's ear.

"She knows! She's plotting to get revenge later. See how she shifts the wedding ring on her finger? How she's constantly peering at her husband in the corner of her left eye?"

Zero listened warily to the intelligent girl who held his attention.

Why was she talking to him? It didn't seem like he had given himself away.

She pursed her lips and studied the nobles in the ballroom once again.

"Ah… that boy over there", she pointed to what looked like a thirteen year old buy in vampire years, dressed in a black suit and matching mask," is left-handed and particularly vain as he keeps brushing back his hair with his left hand".

It was true. Something about the boy did remind Zero of a younger version of Aido. This girl was extraordinary – there was no doubt that everything she said was true as she pointed it out.

Zero stood still, hoping that his lack of activity would bore her and that she would leave, releasing him from her spell.

The girl watched him as he made no reply and sighed.

"Gomen-nasai, I'm dreadfully sorry", she began, her face sad and lonely.

"You must be wondering why I'm talking to you – it's just that you seem…different, the only person I just can't seem to figure out. Everyone here is so fake and pompous, only concerned with making connections with other families to make their clan stronger. "

The girl blushed deeply.

"But with you… I feel there's something more… I just want someone to talk to. You seem so out of place – just like me – so I thought we could be friends. I've always hated the other vampire kids."

Zero frowned slightly. Did he really stand out that much? That wasn't what he planned; his aim had been to blend in.

There was only so much some fancy clothing and a mask could do – he was still an antisocial heartless vampire hunter who had hated these fancy wretches all his life.

This girl was slightly different, he admitted. She appeared distant from the other vampires, although she was obviously of high status. He could smell it in her blood.

It was a shame.

If she wasn't a vampire and he gave a shit, he might have liked her.

Vampires, were however vampires, and her vampiric aura still urged him to retch.

"I can't afford to have friends right now."

Her smiled vanished and he sighed.

"But I can understand".

She smiled radiantly; relieved he had decided to speak with her at least somewhat.

"Oh you have such a charming voice!" she applauded happily.

Zero made no facial expression. He was starting to get tired of this.

Her eyes held an element of frustration, as he seemed to give no hint about who he was. She stared longingly at Zero and he had no choice but to look back.

How long was he going to have to stay here, frozen to this spot?

Zero's eyes widened in alarm as the little girl sprang up onto the tips of her feet and slowly reached up to grasp the sides of Zero's black mask. He stiffened and struggled against his restraining body to break free – but it had the opposite effect, making him bend lower towards her touch.

He felt a flare of hate towards himself and all vampires and he cursed.

He was being manipulated by a vampire yet again.

His limbs started to jerk and he used his will power to try and stop himself from being exposed, but he was powerless against her will.

He glared coldly at the girl, as her fingers curled around the curves of the elegant mask and brought it free from Zero's face, its fluid shape falling slowly to the ground.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Seiren_

She had been sure she had sensed him around here somewhere and now aimed to catch him unawares when the chance came.

Dressed in black and carrying her knife along with her viciously sharp nails, she was efficiently equipped for the mission she had been appointed to carry out.

It was raining heavily, yet she sprung up to higher heights in order to get a good view of the sights below. If her target was around here like she thought he was, she should be able to see him from this position.

There he was, hurrying to get to a shelter from the rain. No one else in the vicinity would have guessed that this man was a vampire – but to her, it was obvious. The subtle grace at which he walked, his visible preference to the dark; they were all give-aways.

He was one of the many vampires Kaname-sama had asked her to target.

Seiren soared down, landing agilely in front of the vampire.

"Huh?"

She struck him and pinned him to the nearest street wall, spearing his clothes to the wall with her knife. The street was abandoned and no one could witness the deed that was taking place.

Seiren poised her razor sharp fingernails beneath his chin with delicate but malicious intent. She stared icily as the man's face transformed into an expression of horror.

"Why? What have I done?"

"Nothing", she replied stonily, "Kaname-sama has ordered me to kill the likes of you."

"But I'm not Level E! I'm not insane! I'm a Level D!" The vampire's eyes bulged and he began to sweat, fearing for his life.

"Exactly. A vampire once human. Vampires with dirty diluted blood. Both levels are the same"

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"And must be erased".

Seiren's fingernail slit the level D vampire's throat and he made a choking sound, his weak blood trickling down his skin as his eyes lost their shine and his body sank into a heap of dust.

"I'm sorry", she said emotionlessly to the leftovers of the victim she had disposed of.

"All requests of Kaname-sama must be fulfilled".

She walked back down the street, sheathing her knife swiftly. The only sound to be heard was the background rustle of traffic far away.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Zero_

Zero's silver hair fell around his face, his face revealed.

There was nothing he could do. Now he was exposed and there was a possibility he would have to fight his way out of the crowded ballroom. It was only a matter of time before he was recognized.

In the meantime, he was frozen, staring blankly at the little girl who gazed into his eyes, her fingers still lightly touching his face. She seemed a little taken aback, finally seeing the dark stranger's face.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you to be handsome. Let's see what I can learn about you now"

Her eyes seemed to burn into his eyes as she examined him with fierce concentration. His fists clenched. He felt like hitting her. It was not his intention to become a little vampire's entertainment for the evening instead of carrying out his mission.

Zero's emotionless face was plain to see.

A small smile crept up the side of the little girl's face.

"You're in love" In her soft voice rang a note of triumph as she revelled in her discover.

He ignored her, glaring at her attitude. He didn't want to hear it. He wanted her to shut up. She was wrong. The Zero she was describing no longer existed and there was no use trying to bring him back. It was a dead lost case.

His eyes became a cold icy purple, his face tightening as he forced a wave of hate to wash over him, comforted by its familiar touch.

She frowned.

"You're lost – confused".

Creases appeared on her young face as she looked troubled, wincing as she explored Zero's past and character.

"Pain… unbearable pain". Her voice dropped to a whisper.

Grains of time trickled by as she looked at him intensely. She stumbled, taking a step back as if she was burnt by Zero's presence. She was shuddering, avoiding his hollow gaze.

He blinked as he noticed tears welling up in jade eyes. She wiped at her eyes, sniffling as she attempted to hide her sorrow. She seemed more her age, fragile and insecure and he tensed rigidly as she burst into sobs, flinging her small arms around him, her head pressed into his stomach.

His shirt became damp but he remained still, letting the girl cling to him in her sudden sadness.

Not that he had much choice.

"Please feel better", she choked in a whisper, "please stop hurting, I can't stand it!"

Zero, gazed up at the ceiling, trying to ignore her jabbing words.

"It's –it's j-just not fair".

He sighed.

"A b-broken heart – stop it! Stop it! Stop breaking! I order you to stop suffering!"

A pain awakened in his head once again, but it wavered like the child crying into his shirt.

"She'll come back! Stop it! I promise!"

_Yuuki…_

His chest panged and Zero cast away the name to the back of his mind.

"Get off me", a new note of hate in his voice.

The girl froze at his tone and slowly unpeeled her arms from around the heartless young man.

"I'm sorry", she whispered – and it didn't seem like she was just apologizing for her actions.

In those two words, she apologized for every pain and sadness in his life, every unjust deed he had been dealt with, every tragedy, on behalf of her kind.

His eyes widened slightly. The room had gone deadly quiet. The music had halted and the room was still. Eyes narrowed at Zero from every angle, reddening with a bloody luster. Dancers froze mid-step, glaring behind faces of feathers.

A sharp scratch shrieked through the air as vampire nails sharpened into long blades suspended from fingers, all pointing in his direction.

A skinny woman with long curled blonde hair came up and snatched the little girl from behind, putting herself as a shield between her and the killer surrounded in the room.

"Elena-sama! Get back quickly! Aoitori-sama would be horrified!"

As the girl was whipped away Zero finally felt freedom within his limbs. He grabbed the Bloody Rose gun and it proceeded to blossom countless branches in the direction of the vampires.

The host of the vampire party stepped forward to meet Zero with her sheathed bladed fingers.

"Our duty is to protect the purebloods and yours is to die, traitor", he ran forward, aiming at Zero's neck.

A bullet shot from amongst the thrashing thorns and hit the vampire square in the chest, plummeting him into dust. Vampire nobles sprung forward, weapons bared at the intruder, diving with inhuman strength and Zero jumped onto the serving table, knocking off various dishes as he fired bullets into his enemies.

Screams sliced through the room as several vampires were hit, their cries echoing loudly as they tried in vain to reach the vampire hunter.

One vampire raced forward and sliced off a branch of the bloody rose in a flash with a long steel katana.

Zero watched coldly as he wound a vine around the gasping aristocrat, strangling him as the thorns proceeded to pierce his nocturnal skin – yet more opponents came, undaunted by the towering Bloody Rose.

"Leave him alone!" screeched Elena, running forward, "He's my friend!"

She was briskly batted out of the way.

The Bloody Rose slayed five attacking nobles, staining the marble floor with blood.

"You monster! You murdered three of our prized purebloods! Rido-sama, Kontan-sama and Shizuka-sama! It's time to pay!"

Zero's eyes ignited with cold fire at Shizuka's name.

"The killer of Hio Shizuka wasn't me – I'm not sorry to disappoint you".

"Lies!"

It was time for him to get out of here. He directed a vine of his awakened gun at the large chandelier at the centre if the ceiling. It curled over its frame and Zero used it to swing him over the heads of the party guests and towards the exit.

He landed nimbly and sprinted with unmatched speed out of the underground vampire hotspot and out into the open. Yells could be heard a while behind him and he needed to move quick.

Yagari was waiting for him out in the open, sitting in the driver's seat of his truck. Zero welcomed the quick escape and jumped into the front seat, as the truck burst off with maximum power.

Several vampires threw themselves onto the truck, piercing holes into the windscreen. Yagari steered with one hand while he pulled out his gun and shot them off, half-watching as they tumbled off the truck in pain.

Zero opened his door, firing gunshots into the pursuing enemies, unbothered as they perished into nothingness. The main threats were eliminated.

Soon the vampires were miles behind and Yagari drove the truck through the wilderness to a place that could avoid detection.

The town was left far behind and buildings were replaced with trees, streets replaced with dirt, and the bustling noise replaced with an unsettling silence.

The truck ran into a tree as they attempted to wing through the thick forest.

"Damn it", growled Yagari, sitting without a seatbelt in the driver's seat. The Truck now had a large dent in the front was wedged tightly in the dirt.

"Looks like we'll have to stay here tonight"

He grabbed sleeping mats from the back seat and proceeded to open his door, banging his head hard against the tree he had failed to see with his one eye.

Zero ignored his cursing as he ripped off his cloak and carefully opened the front door, walking out into the open.

The air was damp and cool and the trees echoed with night birds exchanging words. It was dark and the only light came from the glow of the car headlights and the flare of Yagari's lighter as he struck it against his new cigarette.

Zero laid out a blanket and lay on his back on the ground of a small opening, his arms behind his head as he looked at the stars through the gaps between the looming trees.

"Not in the truck?", a puff of smoke blurred the air.

Zero was silent and Yagari sighed, setting out to join him. He flung his blanket down next to his student and collapsed heavily on the ground with a contented sigh. He removed his hat and joined Zero in watching the stars.

"It's unlike you to screw up", Yagari started conversationally. No response came for a while and Yagari puffed out some smoke in annoyance.

"Is it?" came quiet words from next to him.

Yagari laughed.

"It's true you've always been a troublesome student, provoking vampires, making mistakes from time to time - but this, is the first time I've ever seen you have to run from a stampede of angry murderous vampires. What happened?"

He was going to ignore the fact that Zero's answer ran deeper than the simple dealings with average vampires.

"I got… distracted".

Yagari narrowed his eyes, curious. Zero's ever emotionless tone brought creases to his face.

"Any news?"

Zero didn't answer, and Yagari knew he had come empty-handed.

It seemed he was needed after all.

"I too was mostly unsuccessful – but I did hear a name."

Zero stared blankly at his sensei, awaiting the information.

"A pureblood named Aoitori is what I heard, other than that I learnt nothing."

Zero tensed slightly, his mind racing back to that recent time in the ballroom. He had heard that name before.

He remembered.

He didn't know who Aoitori was – but somehow he was connected to that little girl who had distracted him earlier that day.

Finally. He was getting somewhere.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Yuuki_

It was a while before Yuuki awakened a second time that day and she felt more at rest; calmer and more composed. She washed off the blood completely and attempted to start the morning normally as she had easily done before.

Dressed nicely and smelling sweet once again, she felt she was ready to forget the events of the night and begin a new day, lacking the drama of the last night. She walked to the dining room once again for breakfast and was surprised to discover the absence of her brother.

What had he done after last night?

Her stomach churned and she down at the piano, staring blankly at the keys.

Slowly and gingerly she reached out her finger to touch the small instrument, and proceeded to play a little melody, her fingers stumbling slightly on the notes.

So engrossed had she become, that she missed the sound of approaching footsteps, which echoed louder as Kaname came slowly closer.

He stood by the piano and watched her grimly.

The notes clashed painfully as she finally noticed him standing behind her. He seemed colder and more collected than the night before and Yuuki feared she had hurt him.

"When was it that you stopped telling me everything Yuuki?"

He was pained and his hand gripped the edge of the piano. Yuuki didn't reply and stood up, rising on her tiptoes to kiss him – push the painful memory out of his mind. He kissed her back, pushing her against the keys of the piano, making them resound and echo throughout the room.

An unnoticed figure stood nearby, her fists clenching.

She swept away in the direction she had come, her grey, silver hair swishing as she walked swiftly away from the scene. Maria's eyes flashed a colour not belonging to her own.

Hio Shizuka, the princess of the sakura unnaturally in bloom, still had a debt to pay.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**So there you go folks! I hope you enjoyed it! Keep reading and tell me what you think of it!**


	5. Veil Of Mind

**Author's Note – Oh dear, I know it's been a while and I feel bad towards people who have been looking forward to this chapter ( if there are people looking forward to it I hope XD –sweat drop - ) However, now, the holidays have started and so I should be able to update sooner now – so that's good! Hopefully, when we travel my sister will lend me her laptop so that I can continue writing. (I've always been a desktop person myself) I've also decided that from now on I'll be doing shorter chapters but at a quicker rate, generally with only one POV instead of three. Does that sound good? I just thought that it's probably hard to get into a story when you have to wait around two or more weeks for each chapter – that's why I find it quite painful that Vampire Knight's a monthly manga. The art takes a long time to do I guess – but I've got to hand it to Hino Matsuri, her art's amazing so it's worth it. Hehe, and Zero gets better looking as the story progresses so I'm not complaining!!!**

**I also have a lot of songs that I think go well with the chapters I've written for this story and so I'll start writing their titles at the bottom of each chapter's author's note. C'est bien? As for the chapters I've already written besides this one, would you like me to edit them and put them up? Or I could put them up on my profile page? Or both? Tell me – I'd be grateful to hear your opinion.**

**Lastly, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to 'Sarcastic Chocolate Bear' who has supported me through writing this chapter and kept me going! Your reviews were very much appreciated, thank you!**

**This is a KainxRuka chapter, enjoy! The song I recommend to go with it is 'Broken' by Amy Lee and Seether.**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

Chapter Five – Veil Of Mind

The air was crisp, cold and Ruka's skin became whiter ever still. The faint rustle of restless crickets could be heard from all directions, and she felt restless – the number one reason being that she had to sleep, sleep like a fickle human.

To Ruka, the night was the most thrilling part of the day- everything was so alive and sharp. The smothering darkness was a part of her very soul, a time that belonged to her and her kind. They, the fair vampires, owned the night. The pitch dark illuminated her features and she felt comfortable in its embrace. She couldn't understand how humans could sleep away through its seams.

Sleep refused to touch her tonight, especially in the grotty damp tunnel she was residing in. Moss crept above her and behind her amongst the shadows in an eerie shade of dark green and she had never felt so dirty in her life.

Ruka wrinkled her nose distastefully. She was disgusted by the lack of service around here.

Not one of the hotels in the area had had a swimming pool, or hot tub of any sort. The lack of chandeliers was atrocious and the only rooms available had to be shared and weren't up to luxury suite standard.

Naturally, she and Aido had refused to stay in any of these places – and so they had somehow ended up here, under the huge bridge that crossed through town.

Ruka had honestly no idea how Aido had managed to fall asleep. He really was quite simple-minded – things such as the time of day barely bothered him. He was slumped against the brick wall of the curving tunnel, undisturbed as trains often passed above, shaking the composure of the wall and making it shudder. Slight drool crept from his snoring face and he wouldn't hesitate to roll over and shift position every minute.

Aido also, unfortunately, seemed to have a habit of talking in his sleep and his endless mumblings drove Ruka to the brink of insanity, as she stood there frozen in the tunnel, refusing to touch the damp, rotting tunnel floor. It was raining outside, and despite the shelter, her dress was getting increasingly wetter as a shallow flood seeped through the tunnel.

"Don't … touch that b-bucket ", Aido groaned as he shuffled around in his sleep.

Ruka's face crunched up with rage. Did that moron ever silence?

"Put down that hose…"

She fought to steady her breath as she fumed, fighting the urge to kick the murmuring blonde.

"I…like you Kaname-sama"

That did it. Ruka aimed a kick at Aido's stomach and stormed out into the rain cursing. She didn't care if she came back soaked, she couldn't stand another minute in the same vicinity as that imbecile.

The sky was weeping tonight, eyes watering at the heavy cloak of grey smoke that smothered its borders. Not a soul could be seen outside, as everyone was sleeping soundly in their shelters- except for her. She didn't need such comforts; she welcomed the rain, letting it strike her on the streets.

Her body shook in rage and her mind spun. She really didn't have reason to be angry – but everything seemed a blur and quickly her angry surged into crashing wave of sadness. She felt so confused and so lost. Nothing was clear any longer.

Clouds thundered above and flash of lightning cast a pallid sheen upon the cracked cement beneath her feet. Dirty puddles gathered between cracks of the tiles and a tree grew close to falling over nearby, dangling threateningly above her head.

Ruka stared at her hands, which began to shake and wallowed in how very weak she a pitiful creature she was and always had been. That was all she was to Kaname – no wonder he hadn't thought twice about leaving her behind. No matter how she tried, she couldn't blame him. She was an annoyance, a hindrance and a failure. Even so, her heart wondered whether she could ever prove to him that he was wrong.

That was all she wanted. All she was allowed to want.

Her chin tilted up to meet the sky and she closed her eyes, feeling raindrops break on her skin and slide down into her hair and slowly down her neck. She felt ice in the pit of her stomach and her heart hurt with every beat.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kain leaned against the curving wall of the dark tunnel, his firey hair falling slightly over his eyes. He was listening to his surroundings peacefully with his eyes smoothly closed. He cherished the still atmosphere around him, relieved that there were still moments in this hectic world that he could spend quietly thinking to himself. The freedom of thought and near silence, blatantly ignoring Aido, seemed like music to his ears.

He could hear the rain fall at a steady, comforting pace and took pleasure at the shelter he was provided with under the dark, curving tunnel.

He wondered mildly whether Ruka was still insisting on standing throughout the night. She was always agonizingly stubborn.

One eye flickered open and the other soon followed after. His eyes searched almost frantically around him as he registered in his brain her absence.

She was gone.

He stood up with a start and looked around more slowly, carefully for her dusk peach hair and rose eyes – just in case his eyes deceived him. All that could be seen was the damp, enclosing tunnel and a loud, sleep-talking blonde.

"I'll be an Idol for you any day, baby"

Hanabusa's fingers curled into a gun like posture.

"Blood type B? That's my favourite – come here gorgeous"

Aido began to suck determinedly on Akatsuki's shoe.

Kain's face became very distressed, and he ran a hand through his hair, grimacing, half wanting to pull it all out.

His eyes cast off to the rain outside. Far off, with his enhanced vision he could see a slim shadow of a young woman, staring up into the sky.

His heart panged slightly – it was Ruka.

Swiftly, he kicked off his cousin and strode out into the rain with no hesitation.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ruka counted the drops, which landed on her face.

" Ichi, ni, san…"

But she miscounted, as she could no longer distinguish between the rain and her own tears. She choked a sob, biting it down.

He would never love her – she hated to admit it, but it was true ever still. However, she couldn't bring herself to let him go. She still had more to give.

Ruka tensed as she heard a splash nearby. She turned slowly and caught sight of none other than Kain, standing there, drenched. His clothes dripped, his shirt clinging to his chest. His hair, usually wild in all directions, lay flattened around his face, which held a sheepish expression.

Ruka wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. He was stupid enough to go out in the pouring rain to follow her.

He stood there, his eyes set on her lonely figure as she made no movement, glued to the street. A small painful smile crept barely on her face. It was impossible to escape his notice. After all the constant, stupid, thoughtless things she had done and was still doing now, he was here.

She couldn't understand. She was pompous. She was vain – self-obsessed.

But there he stood. Despite the weather. Waiting for her to come back.

Kain gazed intently at her wavering form. He could wait forever – he didn't care how it long it took. He had no choice, he couldn't ever persuade himself otherwise. He was in too deep – drowning.

"Akatsuki, Kaname doesn't love me, I'm not sure what to do with myself", her voice rasped, "I don't think I can ever love again"

A knife slowly drove itself into Kain's heart, as easy as if it was butter, and he let it stay there, watching her blandly.

"He was the one – I knew ….I-I've always known since the first time I laid eyes on him."

He stood there helpless with no reply.

"I had never seen such a lonely face – the sadness in his eyes I've always strived to soothe away. That fate that always hovered over his shoulders – I wanted to share the pain."

She reached out a hand to the horizon as if she could see her love right there, beyond her reach. He truly was beyond her reach.

"But in the end… I realized that I was being selfish. I wanted my own happiness – his love more than all those things. I wasn't willing to let him go – and now, I have no choice."

"I'm such an idiot, Akatsuki, an utter idiot – such a wretched being. I don't deserve any happiness – I'll remain broken forever"

Ruka choked a sob and wavered, nearly losing her balance.

The rain continued to fall and Kain, feeling helpless, extended his hand out to her. In his hand, there was acceptance, and it glowed with ethereal, beautiful glow.

Her eyes narrowed and she felt a flare of anger. She shoved her childhood friend angrily, the rain steaming on her face, as it grew increasingly hotter in her anger.

"Why do you put up with me?! Desert me! Leave me be, stupid! You're a fool Akatsuki – I'm not worth the effort."

Kain took her insults, refusing to move.

Ruka's eyes softened. A small crooked smile slipped on her face without her control. She stumbled and her legs started to fail her. Kain quickly strode up to her and gathered her in arms. She struggled and hit him, trying to break free.

"Stop Akatsuki! Don't bother! S-stop!"

He wouldn't let go. It was just what she needed.

Despite her anger, her body betrayed her and hers arms tightened around him, her face nestling in the crook of his neck by his open collar. He felt her shudders as she finally opened herself up to him, tears falling in synch with the rain.

Kain sighed, and lifted her up gently in his arms, bridal style as she proceeded to cry into his chest.

"C'mon let's go", he whispered into her ear, his voice was deep and comforting.

He cradled her through the soaked streets and she let him, her head lowered in shame.

Thank God this was Akatsuki. She wouldn't stand for Hanabusa to see her like this.

"Hanabusa would laugh if he saw me like this", she choked, appalled at the idea.

"No he wouldn't", came Kain's soft reply, but he avoided the tunnel for her sake, travelling up till they stood higher – on top of the bridge, higher than everything. From the bridge they could see for miles. Below, lay the little village, spread across either side of the river which meandered out into the distance beyond grassy hills.

Train tracks raked long down the centre of the bridge's stony surface and a lone train stop with a small sheltering hood

stood by its side. There, they headed, and he set Ruka down to sit on its bench. He sat beside her and they both breathed heavily, feeling the relief from the rain.

Behind and above the veil of rain little stars could just be seen in the night sky. The air felt heavy, and so felt Kain's felt as he watched sadly, Ruka's broken face.

"Is it really me? Am I a bad person?", she whispered, her sore throat creating a rasping sound in her voice.

"Am I not good enough? Does my appearance not please him? Am I just a hindrance?"

He thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

A train soared past; a powerful blast of air struck them both, causing their hair to go wild in the impact.

Ruka, failing to hear his silent response, felt strangely grateful towards her childhood friend. Despite her endless questions, she didn't want to know. She'd rather drift in ignorance than face the truth she dreaded. She started to calm down and soon her sobbing was reduced to sniffling.

Kain stayed dutifully by her side through it all.

As her desperation started to subside, Ruka became aware of a growing chill frosting her skin and travelling up her spine. The temperature was falling steeply and the cold was bitter and sharp, her clothes were thin and flimsy and she longed for warmth on her skin, the opposite to the feeling of this cold night. She shivered and hugged her arms around her, managing a small scowl.

Kain felt relieved at that small sound– before he had never been so scared, although he would never admit it. She wasn't beyond repair. She was still the same Ruka he had always known.

Ruka gasped as the tormenting chill dissipated, a flare of heat banishing it. She turned, surprised to find Kain's arm around her shoulder, as he ignited flames from his skin, aware of her discomfort towards the cold.

She sighed and sank against him.

"Thank you". Vulnerability rang in the tones of her voice.

His arms hung there, the flame in his hand illuminating both their faces in the dark. Ruka pondered sleepily, how it was that she had gone from distraught to unbelievably comfortable in such a short amount of time. She really didn't have a very good grasp on her emotions.

Unrequited love was a bitch.

Kain had no choice but to agree.

A mist shrouded the night with a dark hue and both Kain and Ruka blinked, peering at the sky. The stars disappeared one by one in their vision and their surroundings became blurry. The train tracks had dissipated into the air and soon, all that Ruka could see was Kain next to her.

"What is this?", her voice trembled, slightly.

Kain sighed, his eyes scanning the surroundings his eyes failed to see. He slid his arm out from around Ruka's shoulders and a menacing flame breathed in his fist in anticipation. He carefully slid Ruka's hand into his other hand. He tensed.

The atmosphere had an unnatural feel to it. Ruka cleared her mind, ready to thwart any danger that was approaching. She felt Kain's skin, warm over hers and she felt a spark of confidence spread throughout her body. Her mind sharpened and she felt a familiar power, thrill, soar through her veins.

Rapidly, the increasing mist chiselled their vision until they couldn't even see each other. All that was left was the hazy image of two clasped hands, severed from all else. She found her eyes fixed on them. Her eyes traced the gentle of Kain's sheltering hand. It was a soft flourishing colour. Each mildly creviced finger grasped her fragile hand strongly, warming lightly the fabric of her skin.

Ruka failed to suppress a deep blush, which travelled across her face. She couldn't help marvelling at how perfectly their hands fit together. Two puzzle pieces slotted together.

Ruka's breath caught and she felt dizzy. Her mind was clouded, churning dark crimson blood colour. Something brimmed on the edge of her consciousness and she was falling. She felt strangely peaceful, burying deep into her own mind. The only alarm aroused was when she saw her locked hand, losing its hold and plummeting down into darkness alone.

The last thought that sped through her mind was but a question.

Why was it that it had been her hand, which had let go?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He hadn't seen anything. He hadn't anticipated its happening. All that he knew was that her hand had fallen and that he could feel, in his heart, that she was falling too. Something, outside of his consciousness had triggered him to catch her.

Ruka was caught before she hit the ground. Akatsuki was blinded. He could only feel her soft limp body in his arms. Desperation started to dawn on him when he felt he was truly alone in the sweltering heavy mist.

A flash of anger could be detected in Kain's eyes as he stared out before him at the empty space. Slowly, he registered a hint of colour, tainting the blinding shroud. His eyes widened and his arms tightened around Ruka. Soft pink petals floated eerily to settle on the ground like snow in a rising sunset – except that they were bruised, welting in their passage to the Earth. Despite their damage, they still preserved an elegant beauty as they showered from the above, everything in their path with a delicate grace.

Akatsuki smoothed sakura petals from Ruka's fair sleeping face, cautiously. Only one conclusion registered in Kain's head explaining this – but it was impossible. The air held a familiar musk and caused Kain's skin to quiver. The air tasted sweet and held a deadly silence. Its music toned through Kain's body and he became almost entranced, frozen in its hypnotising shackles.

It didn't make any sense.

The rain became heavier and thicker. There was a disturbance in the air and Kain spun his head round with a snap as a soaring owl with iridescent amethyst eyes split through the mist towards the two of them.

Akatsuki's eyes flashed and a tongue of fire set out to meet it. The owl avoided it and the flame froze midair. He stiffened. He was powerless – he could feel it. Somehow, he was right.

He had no doubt that was no ordinary owl.

She was here.

Its wings flapped towards Ruka and he was about to throw at the possessed bird everything he had – when he was forced to stop.

Ruka, still without consciousness, she lay extending her arm up to the air, reaching for the invading owl. The owl's eyes stayed fixed, shining, on the closed eyes of the young aristocrat girl.

He could nothing but watch. Ruka's full lips murmured something inaudible, and she frowned. Her hair rustled softly as she turned her head in disagreement. Ruka was engaged in some conversation that he had no power to hear.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had been in her final grasp of consciousness that she had send her mind out into her surroundings. It was the least she could do as she sank into darkness of her own mind. Her power had backfired. She could detect the danger with her mind and send it down to a deep abyss as she sank down there herself with her last strength. She felt light-handed and soon she lost any awareness of where, when and who she was.

Everything was Nothing.

An endless pool of black. It rippled beneath the feet that she couldn't feel.

What an unsatisfactory situation to be in, was a stray thought in the back of her head. She was so alone – or no, she wasn't. Was she?

She could sense something powerful with her. Something close. Something that tasted rich and sweet. A faint light appeared and a pale face with long white hair emerged. Something within the being that she was, gasped and a name materialised in her memory.

Hio Shizuka…..

She was draped in traditional fine silks, her hair delicately arranged to frame her face onto of her head. However, great floods of crimson on her chest marred her elegant dress and a hole became apparent where her heart had once been.

The famed bell was missing from her front.

Her eyes opened, streaking into her own with roseate light and Ruka at once felt aware of herself once more under her penetrating gaze. Her memories were re-conjured and she remembered all that happened in the last semesters at Cross Academy. Her eyes widened at the oasis of the pureblood princess and her brow furrowed.

Her thoughts became her speech. She was alone with the Kuruizaki-hime, behind the veils of the deep corners of her mind.

"But you're… dead", Ruka said shortly.

The woman's eyes became glassy and cold, causing Ruka to blush and lower her head despite her shock.

"So I am"

"then why?..."

Hio Shizuka strolled around, mildly curious of her surroundings.

"You're one of the Souen branch, are you not? An interesting ability… one of the mind"

She examined one of her hands in the darkness, seeing it shine with pale sheen.

"I was quite surprised to be drawn into here – but I can't lie. It possesses a certain… convenience…"

Ruka waited, facing her silently.

"As an answer to your question, I am needed. I still have a part to play in this game before I am permanently removed from the chessboard"

Ruka clenched her fists with a sudden vigour.

"Has this got anything to do with Kaname-sama? You must tell me! Tell me where he is!", she shouted, stepping closer to the Kuruizaki-hime.

Her eyes narrowed slightly and a small sad, amused smile graced her jaw.

"Possibly. More or less – but that comes later. First comes you", came her reply.

Shizuka stepped closer to Ruka and placed two icy, graceful fingers to Ruka's temple with a mysterious air. Ruka's lips barely moved.

"Shizuka-sama'

"Close your eyes and remember. Remember all that must be done. Take your friends and let the fabric of time unfold the way it should".

Ruka's eyes fluttered closed. Images flew her mind. Over mountains, past towns, streams and into the depths of the underground. A route. A map to Kaname. Her heart fluttered.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kain watched with complete silence as Ruka's eyes now opened, rotating randomly as if she were tracing an image he couldn't see.

He didn't dare harm the dark, watching bird, as he felt it shared a connection with Ruka that he didn't understand. Kain knew well that while he had power over fire, that Ruka had a power of a completely different nature. In her veins, rant the power of a telepathic nature. Often, had he seen his childhood friend control enemies easily with her mind.

Maybe, somehow, it was this ability, which was affecting her now, as she lay helpless in his arms.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The images were finally starting to fade and Ruka felt that she had thoroughly memorized the location of the underground mansion far away. They came to a stop.

She let out a long sigh and opened her eyes. She blinked.

Shizuka was gone. Ruka could see a light blooming overhead and floating on the ripples of her mind slept bruised cherry blossom petals in her place. She was regaining consciousness.

"Wait!" Ruka shouted into the emptiness, "Why are you doing this?"

An echo of a voice replied at such a low volume it could barely be heard.

"History must not be repeated"

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Time was dragging agonizingly slowly and Kain felt as if he was running through water. All the waiting was a plaguing itch and all he wanted to do was be released from this never-ending spell as he tormented himself over his incapability. He did nothing. He could do nothing – in fact he never did anything. Every time all he could do was watch as his loved ones fell from his reach.

His eyes widened as he caught sight of a shadow advancing towards them behind the veil of mist. He gulped subtly. Things just seemed to be getting even worse.

Kain braced himself, ready to face any further complication in this nightmare. The fog was starting to part and an ashen, elegant hand grabbed out towards them. He watched as it fumbled about around him until it set its clutches on the bird, sitting perched nearby. The hand snatched, prying at feathers and was answered by an annoyed squawk before the bird soared easily away, the mist following in its path.

Kain watched bewildered as slowly he regained vision and peered sheepishly at the owner of the hand he had caught a glimpse of before. Flamboyant blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes and a slight characteristic pout caused him to groan.

"What the?", Aido scratched his head in puzzlement his eyes darting to and fro from his cousin to the unconscious Ruka sprawled out across his lap.

"That's it! I'm getting away from this freakshow…"

Kain glared, imagining the many ways he could roast his cousin in his flames.

"Why is it", Aido continued, "that I always walk into things I just DON'T need to see?" He paced around, trying to pinpoint all the unfortunate occasions he had witnessed – counting on his fingers… despite being a genius.

Kain closed his ears peered over Ruka, anxiously. She was stirring slightly.

"Don't get me started on that time Kiryuu and Yuuki Cross got freaky with the whole hand-sucking experience – and then that night when Kaname-sama tore out the heart of Hio Shizuka –"

Ruka jumped and her eyes flashed open.

"Shizuka-sama!", she yelled, panting and clutching her chest. Kain steadied her, putting a firm hand on her shoulder.

Aido stopped, frowning at the interruption of his train of thought.

Kain watched her, waiting for her to regain her breath. Ruka brought her hands to her temple, as if she feared something might escape it.

"I know how to find Kaname-sama ", she gasped.

Aido's face lit up like a candle and Kain Akatsuki sighed, weariness evident in his eyes.

It just wasn't ever going to end, was it?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**I'm quite amused how I intended to make this a short chapter and yet it somehow ended up being over 4000 words. Ah well, you can't always win. X) Just to clarify, KainxRuka is not the main pairing in this story, it's more of a secondary pairing. The main, primary pairing as you have probably guessed already is ZeroxYuuki. (Sorry KanamexYuuki fans – that's not the way I roll. I love Zero too much although I will be fair to Kaname. I don't think he's all that bad. In fact I feel I've gotten to appreciate a lot more, writing the story. It's not easy being a pureblood. (but I still don't particularly like him very much XD))**

**Y'know, I've just noticed that I seem to have a HELL of a lot of crying in my story. I hope I'm not depressing you guys too much – but this is 'Vampire Knight', and it does tend to be quite tragic. That's why we need Aido around, to lighten up the mood. I do have to say, writing about Aido is one of the highlights of my writing. He's so fun to bully! Haha I do love him. 3**

**So please read and review peoplez and I shall glomp you forever. (In a cyber, non-existent way)**


	6. Heart Of Snow

**Author's note – Woo! It's finally here! The long awaited chapter! It's quite funny – each time I say I'm going to update sooner I end up updating later. I'm sorry about that – but hey! I write pretty long chapters, so maybe you can forgive me. ;D (puppy eyes) I do have a good excuse this time anyway. Trust me, I would've updated much sooner if I could but when I went on holiday there was no internet connection… :'( But I HAVE been writing a lot – in my squishy blue fanfiction book. That's right… SQUISHY..**

'**Frozen' by Within Temptation is my chosen song for this chapter. Play it where you want, if you want to!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Vampire Knight, only the characters that I have made up and haven't starred in the original story. Not that I'm making money off this though…**

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Chapter Six – Heart Of Snow

Yuuki's eyes remained bruised, dark purple welts shadowing, unwavered, from the young pureblood's lack of sleep. She was weak and thirsty – but would not dare to close her eyes to regain much-needed energy.

Not even for a minute.

She couldn't. She wouldn't. The pain was too much. If she could lie awake forever, avoid sleep beyond the folds of time she would do it. If she let go, released her grip on her consciousness she would be left to the part of herself she couldn't control, the side of her she fought down as every second passed by with dragging reluctance.

Because every time Yuuki left her mind unguarded, memories and images flooded in. Ones she couldn't bare to see.

Zero haunted her in her dreams.

Her unconscious mind couldn't cease thinking about him. Every night varied in their content – but in each one starred the same moonlight eyes, ivory complexion and tendrils of falling hair.

That's why Yuuki came to the conclusion that the only escape was to never sleep at all.

Yuuki needed a cure. She needed a distraction – she needed Kaname to counter the gaping wound in her life. His very presence was like a drug, just preventing her from falling apart – and she craved him to numb the pain.

But he wasn't back yet. He was nowhere to be seen.

He had business to take care of which didn't concern her and in which she had no right to intrude. Whatever he was seeing to, he had said that he was doing it for her benefit. He was kind. He was loyal.

But couldn't he see that he would benefit her most by being with her now by her side?

Yuuki had given up her past life to be with him – yet now it was as if he was hardly here at all. Couldn't he see that she needed him? Needed him to make up for all her losses?

She made her way to the dining room, still dressed in her nightgown. A water pitcher stood on top of the table and she floated sleepily towards it, pouring its substance into a clear crystal glass. The blood pills followed and Yuuki chugged the solution down. She couldn't drink it quick enough. It was never enough.

Her hand shook as she speedily poured herself another glass. She was so thirsty. She lusted desperately for real blood.

When would her brother be home?

She continued to feed for a further fifteen minutes, wiping her face as some of the 'blood' dribbled down her chin until she dropped her glass in shock, the crystal shattering as it met the floor.

It was as if a ripple had spread through the air to reach her. She gasped. Could her instinct be deceiving her or was he actually here? Or had she finally fallen asleep? But – no, agonizingly her dreams belonged to Zero. She had no choice but to be awake. He had returned. She could feel his presence so close, unable to stop the flush of excitement smothering her.

Yuuki's exhausted eyes lifted and she ran to throw open the door in her nightgown, dashing around the labyrinth of her 'home'.

She found him standing in the empty ballroom, clad completely in black.

"Onii-sama!", she cried.

His face was like a bright shining light at the end of the tunnel. The sharp angles of his elegant face and his brimming eyes provided the distraction from her misery she was looking for. His stern, humourless face softened a little as he embraced her.

"Yuuki… my dear girl…my princess", his hands fastened like restraining metal, stiffly around her, unwillingly to let her go. His little girl felt fragile and breakable, and she drew energy from his embrace, managing to find a shade of sanctuary surrounded by him.

"Why were you gone so long?", Yuuki squeaked.

Kaname stepped back and gently held her face in his hands, tracing the purple bruises residing to curve, to frame her warm brimming red- brown eyes.

"I hope it wasn't for my sake that you've deprived yourself of sleep" Kaname's face betrayed nothing yet Yuuki panicked, sensing a tinge of regret in his eyes and voice.

"No!', she shouted, before growing quickly silent. A faint blush tinted her vampire complexion as she immediately regretted her outburst.

"I've just been unsettled recently". She avoided his eyes, cringing. She felt a stab of self-hatred as she realized that part of her was betraying her fiancée. Even now as Zero flashed into her mind from her memories, causing her knees to almost buckle. Kaname loved her more than anything – he had proved it on numerous occasions – and all she could do was hurt him- lie to him.

Yuuki's eyes flickered to the nearby door, widening as she noticed a familiar figure appearing behind Kaname.

"Seiren-senpai?", came her puzzled voice. She smelt faintly of blood and she was dressed entirely in black, not unlike her pureblood lord, equipped with various weaponry.

"What are-?"

Kaname broke her off with a smothering kiss and she almost choked as his lips met hers.

Yuuki felt something fall to the pit of her stomach and she felt… dirty. His lips were soft, but devastating – and each touch tore a figment within her body. She felt raw and sinful – a true vampire feasting off his feelings, trying to desperately feed the darkness, which had seemed to bloom within her heart.

She didn't deserve him. She didn't deserve anyone.

He was hers- but she couldn't have him, not without sinking him down to her pitiful level. Kaname had gone through so much to bring them together – yet Yuuki felt with a sudden sickness and revulsion that the effort had been wasted. She loved him, but she was too weak a creature to have enough heart to pay him back. She leeched onto his presence to prevent her from falling apart. She used him, and she hated herself for it. But she couldn't stop. He was her life support.

Once. In the past when everything felt so much lighter, Yuuki remembered.

It was an evening, standing in the corridors of the school she knew so well.

And she hadn't been alone. She could see clearly in her head the tall figure of Zero before her. His silver hair was falling gently over eyes filled with concern – concern belonging solely to her as her shrouded past twisted her mind.

She remembered very clearly the feeling of knowing that she could tell him anything and that he'd understand anything she told him. He knew her better than anybody else. He'd always listen, protect her from what she feared the most – an anchor to hold her down when her confusion drifted her away.

Hesitation plagued her before she confided in her childhood friend with a question that had been troubling her for days.

"…hey…if I become a vampire… do you think my heart will grow stronger?"

Pain and anger reflected within the pure irises of his eyes. His pain was hers.

Now she had her answer.

Slowly they parted and Kaname's eyes held her softly, yet solemnly as he gently tucked one of her locks neatly behind her ear. Yuuki's eyes drifted back towards the spot where Seiren had stood and blinked. The young bodyguard was free from her black attire and waited seemingly for Kaname's audience in a silk lilac kimono with not a bloodstain in sight.

Yuuki had still to master vampire speed, it seemed.

Kaname's eyes closed and opened as he realized he could distract Yuuki no longer. He turned and walked over to Seiren, his long black coat giving him the impression of a shadow.

"You're early", he stated coldly.

"We have visitors", she answered, her long single braid swinging slightly as she bowed shortly for Kaname.

His expression didn't change at this shared news. Yuuki guessed that he had already known. Nothing seemed to ever pass his notice.

"Let them in", came his curt reply.

Yuuki studied her brother, mystified at how even now, she could never work him out – know what he was thinking. A dark aura seemed to radiate from him… but Yuuki also knew that Kaname was one of the gentlest people she had ever known. He was the one who had ever known. He was the one who had saved her life all those years ago after all.

But Yuuki couldn't deny that as gentle as her brother could be, there was something about him, which scared her.

Kaname turned away from Seiren, the ghost of a smirk lurking on his lips as he walked swiftly away. Yuuki didn't know whether to stay or follow. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Seiren…", he toned.

He saw her nod briefly and then walked out of the room, seemingly satisfied.

Yuuki stayed frozen, shocked by the lingering memory of Kaname's 'smirk'. She hadn't seen something like that for a long time. She watched as Seiren walked off, leaving her alone in the empty room.

Wait – what guests?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You crazy bitch! Where in hell are we going?!", Aido asked, earning a hard glare from Kain as he slashed through the early winter snow. He had already fallen several times and his usually flamboyant hair fell flat, wet, on his face.

"We're nearly there! Just shut up moron! You're only making this trip more miserable than it already is", Ruka shrieked back.

"I still cannot BELIEVE", marched Aido, "we are making our way through the wilderness based on some conversation you had with a dead woman"

Ruka scowled. "It was Shizuka-sama. Show some respect."

Kain was in deep, deep pain.

On numerous occasions had he tried to block out the repeated bickering out of his mind – but to no avail. It was hopeless. He was starting to suspect that the two of them actually _enjoyed _arguing – that it was their source of entertainment.

God knows he should have escaped with Shiki and Rima.

For hours all they had seen was an endless sheet of white bleaching the green of a vast field, which seemed to stretch on forever into the distance. The sky was a black abyss, with not a star in sight and they were all thirsty. The supply of blood tablets was running thin and Kain prayed that it would hold till they reached their destination – especially with his cousin's appetite. Kain knew from unfortunate experience Aido could eat a horse if he wanted to.

"She's DEAD. How could she guide you to Kaname-sama?", Aido was very exasperated.

"I suppose for brains like yours things like these are too much to handle", came the haughty reply.

Aido fumed with fury.

"You're delirious! If you had more brains than me then you would have advised us to dress more warmly this morning. You're the only one who knows where in the world you're dragging us to! Right Akatsuki?"

Kain just sighed.

"Maybe we could have prepared better if we could have left the hotel suite earlier. But SOMEONE overslept as usual and SOMEONE insisted to take ages curling his hair!"

Aido gasped, his face churning a deep red.

"I do NOT curl my hair."

Ruka snorted in a strangely dainty fashion.

"You can't hide from ME Hanabusa. I SAW the curler AND the way you drooled over that Loreal shampoo advert"

Aido looked very much affronted, but managed to gather some pride by fingering his damp golden locks.

"I'm sorry if I just like preserve my hair's natural lustrous shine and volume"

Ruka burst out laughing, causing him to scowl.

"When you find your hair limp and lacking the shine I possess – don't come crying to me!"

Now it was her time to scowl.

"And I'll have you know that I'll NEVER let you borrow my haircurler!"

He trudged off, further into the snow – trying to retain some dignity and ignore the endless snorts and 'because you're worth it's following behind his back.

"I _am _worth it", Aido muttered angrily to himself, concentrating on planting one foot in front of the other in his Dior boots.

He raced ahead of the others, cursing at the snow. Maybe it was for that reason that an aristocrat like Aido Hanabusa managed not to notice the large metal gate approaching in the horizon. It was only when it started to open, the metal screeching, screaming in his ears in his ears that he looked up, mouth opened wide at the strange landmark breaking the endless haze of white around him. He could've sworn that it wasn't there before.

A biting gust of wind, caused by the impact of the gate slammed into his chest and he strained his eyes against the endless veil of falling snow. A clang of metal vibrated hazily through the air and a small figure of seemingly of medium height glided effortlessly through the snow. Aido noticed subtly as he felt Kain and Ruka joined him on either side.

"This is it", Ruka whispered almost silently by his side.

Seiren approached the three of them slowly, her stride giving the impression of a panther, despite the tight fit of her pale kimono. She stopped as she stood before her old fellow students who waited shivering in the cold. She inspected them all stoically, her eyes tracing the set of blonde, orange and peach coloured hair and their complimenting eyes.

Yes. It was definitely them. She hadn't been mistaken.

Satisfied, Kaname's bodyguard turned without comment and retreated back to the hidden manor, expecting her guests to follow – and follow they did.

Ruka's eyes narrowed thinner than usual into slits, due to the snow and the absence of an expected welcome, despite the butterflies flying circles frantically in her stomach.

Kaname's presence was nearly within her reach.

She felt a rush of purpose and dread, stronger yet vulnerably weaker, as she followed Seiren down underneath the once undisturbed layer of snow.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Yuuki"

The deep voice echoed softly but loudly off the high ceiling of the room she had been left in. The owner of the name jumped as she sat alone on the white marble floor.

"Onii-sama?",she asked uncertainly.

The question came as little more than a whisper but it didn't go unheard.

"Join me please. Spare a little time to be with me, I'm in the study"

Yuuki clambered up to stand firmly on her feet, smoothing her gown as she headed towards the direction of the voice. Soon she reached the maple door of the room that she had never dared once to enter. It creaked and Yuuki silenced it as it was opened to reveal a contrastingly dark study.

Maybe it was because Kaname felt more comfortable in the dark – whatever the reason, the room was decorated in shadows, their numerous shapes fanned out like gossamer. The only light supplied was an antique oil lamp, which settled on a rich dark mahogany desk next to the ever present chess board Kaname always seemed to be occupied with.

Overall Yuuki thought the dark study suited Kaname perfectly. Amongst the many bookcases and papers it contained there were handkerchiefs and antique objects, along with rich curtains gently waving in folds. It occurred to her that it wasn't much unlike the study she had seen briefly a few times in the moon dorm within the Cross Academy. Dark blood crimson seemed to be the theme, matching Kaname's eyes as he gazed warmly in Yuuki's direction.

Yuuki was glad that there wasn't much light to see with as she felt a faint blush creep up her neck and through her cheeks. He was staring at her with an intensity she felt she didn't deserve. She almost wished he would look away. As he sat there, perched by his desk, Yuuki looked in awe at how powerful he appeared. His every feature screamed of majesty. It was almost…daunting how handsome he was. She felt small, unworthy and grateful to even have the chance to stand in the same room as him, be so close.

"Make yourself comfortable Yuuki, I need to speak with you"

Yuuki shuffled over to the little, yet elegant chair in the opposite far corner of the room. She froze as her sensitive ears detected a slight crack as she bent down to sit on the chair. She warily looked up to meet two gleaming ruby eyes piercing her with what appeared to be anger swimming behind their glassy surfaces.

"Yuuki"

He motioned to the chair beside him, his eyes tracing her every move. He seemed to enjoy saying the word, savoured its sound as his eyes devoured her face.

As Yuuki came to sit beside her brother, their shoulders gently brushing. She felt an overwhelming wave of shyness hit. It made her feel the need to create some space, vacuum, between them – yet another part of her was drawn to him, a surge of admiration at the sight of his majestic features.

For a while, nothing was said. The room remained void of sound except for Yuuki's quick breathing. Kaname's middle finger stroked one of the drawers hiding under the mahogany desk. There seemed to be something within it which occupied part of his mind.

"Do you know where you've been staying these last couple months, Yuuki?" He broke the pregnant silence.

Yuuki was surprised by this sudden turn of conversation.

"N-no Kaname-sama"

He frowned slightly at the added suffix to his name.

"This is the house of our ancestors. The Kuran household. The Kurans have ruled the vampire world from this manor for thousands of years…"

She blinked. Well that made sense. But what was the relevance?

"In every room, there are antiques passed down from the members of our family. Some are nothing much but some are also… of undeniable value…"

Every word he said was poised, his speech always tactful, his posture perfect – his composure unshakable.

"Kaname-sama?" What was he getting to?

He paused, his eyes closing and opening before he turned to face her, his head close to hers.

"And there's one I've been meaning to give to you for quite some time"

His hand gently slid the desk drawer open.

Yuuki gasped.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Both Seiren's and Ruka's stiletto heels made tapping sounds on the shiny marble as the four of them made their way through the mansion. The endless number of halls were making even Ruka's head spin and she wondered quietly to herself how Seiren could know her way around here so easily.

Seiren's walking finally came to cease in a corridor not far from the main centre of the mansion and she stopped before three separate doors, lined neatly on the left side, the bedrooms, which had been assigned for their party.

Ruka's eyes scrutinized her surroundings. Every feature reminded her of Kaname. She could feel his presence seeping through every wall. She felt a ripe chill pass through her body and she could almost hear the ticking spinning within her head. She felt hot with impatience and she felt the urge to move surge to fill every muscle.

How could she ignore her feelings when she could feel him so near?

Both Kain and Aido chose a room each and Seiren, without waiting, turned to leave, spinning gracefully on her heel.

Ruka panicked slightly as her easy path to Kaname walked away from her, further into the building.

"Wait!", she called out, her voice already starting to break.

Seiren continued to walk.

"Where can I find Kaname-sama?!"

Ruka's fist clenched as Seiren ignored her, leaving her standing in the hallway outside their bedrooms. Her eyes teared slightly and she rapidly entered her room, ignoring Kain's concerned expression as she closed the door with a slam behind her. Her body trembled, as she remained pressed against the door.

She already knew what she would do. She would wait until she was sure she could go unnoticed and then she would go search for Kaname herself. And no-one could stop her.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yuuki felt her heart pang and shock run through her as her eyes were captivated by the object which Kaname came to gently cradle in the palm of his hand.

It was without a doubt the most beautiful object she had ever seen.

It was a stunning engagement ring with so much beauty that it radiated all that was around it. The gold band gave the appearance of a river of creamy running gold, harvesting a blossoming red diamond, carved delicately in different directions, the flat smooth surfaces reflecting in flecks of rainbow light. Gold webbing wrapped around the glittering jewel with budding rubies framing the almost flashing core. Overall, the ring gave the impression of a webbed flowering rose, made to rest on a slim finger.

Yuuki couldn't move, her mind swimming at the image of the ring. She was speechless – no word came to rise.

"I know that we are already engaged. We always have been since we were children – destined to become like mother and father, do you not remember, Yuuki?"

Her mouth hung open slightly, her heart fluttering as she tried to the find the centre within the maze of her mind.

"But… I want to do this properly…"

He rose from his study chair to stand on Yuuki's other side.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ruka couldn't stand to wait anymore. Slowly her hand curled around the door handle, easing the door smoothly open. She poked her head out into the hallway, scanning its contents for someone who might notice her intruding – and after finding no one, stepped warily out of her room. Every slight sound she made seemed to make echoes in her head and heart alone as she quickly paced her way through the Kuran manor.

Kain, sensing her presence on the other side of the door followed her, whilst escaping her notice.

Ruka was on the brink of running as she frustratingly found that every door she opened lead to a room with no Kaname inside it. Her breathing was quick and stifled as her head spun, revolving around the endless number of doors, which wouldn't cease to surround her. She was close to giving up when a certain door captured her attention.

She stopped, her eyes grazing its red maple door.

Kain stopped too, watching Ruka's back with concern.

Ruka took steps towards the door, her hand outstretched.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yuuki could feel nothing, barely breathe as she witnessed Kaname down on the floor, supported on one knee by her feet.

"Yuuki, would you do me the pleasure of marrying me? Would you become my dear girl forever?"

What she felt next took her breath away.

"Of course… Onii-sama", a wide smile plastered to her face.

The study door swung open and both Kaname's face and Yuuki's heads turned to meet the shocked, hurt expression of Souen Ruka.

For a while, all that could be heard was silence, dragging at a slow pace across the room.

"Hello Ruka…..Akatsuki", came Kaname's greeting, his position unmoving, on one knee holding the jewelled ring in his hand.

Kain appeared from in the shadows to stand behind Ruka, much to her surprise. His hand rested on her shoulder as she trembled, her mouth open-mouthed in a pained expression. Kaname turned back to Yuuki as if no interruption had occurred, sliding the ring onto her finger, so swiftly that she barely detected its movement to touch her skin.

"We are to be married", he stated, talking to the three of them, whilst staring deeply into Yuuki's swimming eyes.

Kain could feel Ruka's pain as if it was his own and Yuuki made no comment, overwhelmed with emotions. She drowned in confusion, paralysed by the feeling that overthrew her control.

She was happy wasn't she?

So why did her insides feel like ice, limbs – icicles ready to snap off? Warmth and ice collided through her veins, around her heart in a devastating circle.

"You three, including Aido, have arrived just in time. I need you to help prepare for the wedding"

So Aido was also here then…

Ruka's voice finally broke through her frozen prison of a body.

"When is it? When will it be? The…wedding?..", her voice broke on the last word. How long before he was forever beyond her reach?

"In a month…"

Yuuki's thoughts continued to race without stopping.

Why was it so cold?

A reason came to mind, but she refused to consider it, pushing it firmly down straight away in her mind.

Why was it snowing again? Why was the snow always red? Why was it snowing inside Yuuki's heart?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**So there it is!**

**Okay, I need some major help and advice now from my awesome reviewers! Is KanamexYuuki too dominant in this story? I'm quite worried that people might start to prefer Kaname when this story is going to take a ZeroxYuuki turn. It's really hard, I have to admit trying to nudge romantic love into sibling love … especially when Kaname is so damn good looking. That makes it even harder! And I don't want people to hate Kaname either… just like Zero a lot more! _ XP Is there a good balance? **

**Oh dear, what a tricky mess I've gotten myself into. Typical. Just typical. (face palm)**

**Lastly, I've decided to put a blog-ish thing on my profile, where I might hint when the next update will be as I'm writing. If there's any news it will be there. You're welcome to look at it whenever you want.**

**Please Read and Review!!!**


	7. Blank Nameless

**Author's Note – Long time no see! (ish) :D I present to you the seventh chapter of Awakening Absence! This week it's Zero's turn – so I hope you enjoy it. I would like to thank all the people who have reviewed, favourited, alerted my story! You always make my day and keep me going – this chapter's for you!**

**Disclaimer – Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino. Get it? Got it? Good. ;P**

**Chapter song: 'Running Up That Hill' – Placebo. (Placebo seems to suit Zero really well in his present state)**

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Seven- Blank. Nameless.

Zero's boots splashed in the murky puddles which lay splattered, dirty in the dark wasted part of town. No one came to this place except the cursed, the tainted, and the broken – and Zero put himself well into that category.

In the dark puddles, which enveloped the sour pavement, flourished clouds of red where tens of murderers had resorted to washing their tainted hands. The streets were relieved with pitch dark – having mercy on the eyes, which wandered. Not even moonlight dared shed light on town tonight. It was a new moon, empty and desolate.

Zero held a flashlight, focusing it before him – the white light fighting to find refuge within the creases, cracks between the bricks of bloodstained walls. The air seemed to hold its breath as Zero passed through its depths.

The familiar pit of self-hatred dropped to the bottom of his stomach as he realized in disgust how much the area appealed to him. The blood smelt deliriously delicious and he felt quite at home in the desolate ruins of the town. The longer he spent walking through it with his flashlight, the more intense the sweet smell of blood focused his attention and it was starting to cause him the pain which he all but welcomed.

It was only when Zero started to feel the faint heat envelop his eyes and the dull pain behind his teeth that he knew his exposure to so much blood was getting serious. He turned slightly to look back at the figure of Yagari standing far off into the distance and nodded briefly.

Soon, a little box came flying in his direction and he caught it firmly in his hand.

Staggering a little, Zero chugged down a large amount of blood pills, a different pain twisting his insides now. The blood pills…were so… unsatisfactory. They only dulled the pain, hardly sufficient to fulfil his hunger pains. Although Zero no longer rejected blood pills, he still needed to use more than most, despite no longer hanging on the brink of Level E.

The metallic sweet artificial blood had captured his full attention and his guard was down, his body dedicated to the consuming of life spreading through his veins and arteries.

A shadow close by in the dark escaped his attention, eyes watching his every move, coming to settle on the tiny pill box clutched in Zero's alabaster hand.

Eyes flashed and a velvet voice broke through the near silence accompanying Zero's ragged breathing.

"So it _is_ true"

A tall dark figure slammed into Zero's back, pinning him harshly to the brick wall, a loud bang echoing through the alleyway at the impact. A boot was rammed below his shoulder blades, knocking the breath of him and he heard the click of a gun, loaded on the side of his head.

"Time's up pretty boy", came a taunting voice close to his ear.

No fear changed the expression on Zero's face and he acted quickly, smoothly, as he collided his elbow with enormous force into his attacker's stomach and without waiting for him to double up in pain, sent him dragging across the floor with a well aimed kick.

Zero pointed both the bloody rose and the flashlight on the body lying flat on the dirt, one directed on his face, the other aimed towards his heart.

"What's your business?"

The man by his feet was entirely clad in black, a leather biker jacket and spiked boots completing his attire. His hair was a dirty blonde, hanging straight around two inches above his shoulders. An ugly scar tore through his left cheek and his sharp grey eyes were nearly hidden under his matted fringe.

His eyes took in his situation with sharp, intelligent speed and a grin curved at his lips as he began to laugh, the scar riding up his face in a snake-like manner.

"That's a gun used only for vampires, Kiryu. Don't make a mistake in thinking we're alike."

His eyes held a slightly menacing glint, as he finished the last sentence through slightly gritted teeth, acknowledging that there was vampire standing over his body.

" I see the rumours are true", he continued, "They warned me… but I had to see for myself".

Zero's eyes remained expressionless, empty, as his gun remained trained on the intruder.

"Relax. I'm from the Hunter's association – no vampire scum. I don't lie – it's not my style", he smirked, "I prefer to just twist the truth".

Zero's grip on the bloody rose refused to loosen but he slowly lowered it down, allowing the fellow vampire hunter to stand on his two feet.

"Much appreciated", the blonde answered, accompanied with a toothy grin.

Zero didn't smile back.

"What do you want from me?"

The blonde hunter didn't answer his question.

"Where's Yagari Touga?" He looked around expectantly.

A boot crunched into the earth below and Yagari stepped out into the open, his cowboy hat loping over his one eye.

"What's up?", he lit a cigarette, leaving it to glow, dangling form his mouth.

"I have been given orders to escort you and Kiryu to headquarters"

Yagari contently smoked his cigarette without surprise.

"The list hasn't been updated for quite some time", he commented dryly.

Zero leaned against the wall, satisfied to let his sensei do the talking.

The hunter snorted. "Things haven't been up to date since the President turned traitor on us. Good riddance I say. He was such a creep and a hag", his face twisted in disgust.

"But let's cut the chit-chat. Facts be known, a council meeting has been decided and the two of you have been summoned whether you want to or not"

His eyes flickered over to Zero.

"I have no reason to refuse council and…" Yagari started, turning to meet his pupil's eyes with mild inquiry. They all acknowledged his curt nod.

"But a hunter, such as yourself, is hardly necessary. Is it beyond headquarters just to send a messenger?"

"Is it so bad that I wanted to get a taste of Kiryu's strength on a personal note?", his grey orbs glittered with mischief, "and headquarters isn't convinced of his loyalty"

The hunter's face turned to watch Zero, taking in his leaning figure, the disinterest I his eyes.

"What? No reaction? Well _you're_ boring. How disappointing – I thought I might get some fun out here, but you guys are soooo…"

His nose wrinkled in distaste.

"orderly…"

"Cut the crap", came Zero's cold words. He secured the Bloody Rose in the pocket of his hunter's jacket and started to walk away in the direction of the car.

"That's more like it. Maybe there's hope for you still", he stroked his gun lovingly before slotting it away, following the vampire behind.

As the three of them made their way to the outskirts of town, Yagari sighed as he saw once again the battered frame of his once proud truck-like car. It seemed that every new time he saw it - it seemed to look worse. His pupil however, didn't seem to care.

The blonde hunter walked over to his own sleek grey motorcycle, seating himself with a jump on its leather seat. His motorcycle wasn't alone as it appeared that the garage nearby used to be a rental place for bikes a long time ago.

Zero walked over to the car.

"Ugh. That's not the stylish way to travel", came the charming yet menacing grin, widening.

"I couldn't care less"

The hunter smirked and gestured towards the other motorcycles.

"If not for style, why not for convenience then? Pick your choice. Are you game?"

Zero stopped, turning to glance at the abandoned vehicles. They did have their uses. Without comment he selected a nearby black motorcycle, checking to see if it still worked. The metal body vibrated with power.

The fellow hunter strapped his helmet on, perfectly equipped along with his leather biker jacket.

A gust of steam billowed out behind the grey bike as it burst into action. The blonde side saddled it as he drove away, grinning widely as he threw Zero a salute before saddling properly, becoming just a blur in the distance.

Zero clutched his hands around the hand bars and exchanged a look with his sensei before, driving off, heading to headquarters.

With that, they all sped off into the night.

_____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hall leading to the conference room was completely built out of dark stone and it was left to scarce candlelight to guide the eyes around its dark interior. Echoes resounded at every step of Zero's boots as he split through the crowd, everyone making way for him, as he reached the main quarters.

Before it had been filled with noise.

No longer.

Everyone had been discussing the meeting taking place today- some joking, arguing – until Zero had entered the room.

Silence exploded throughout hunter territory at the speed of a Bloody Rose bullet. Wary and sometimes fearful eyes froze as they took in the vampire's appearance. The empty amethyst eyes, beautiful yet deadly, the moonlight hair falling over them, and the black intricate lines of the hunter crest winding and straightening to web across the left side of his exposed neck.

Some shot him dirty looks, few pitiful, but all stayed back, unwilling to cross his path.

They all knew who he was – the last cursed son of the Kiryus, who seemed to bring misfortune wherever he went.

"What a welcome", commented the escort, slightly jealous of the forbidding aura spilling fear collecting drown the volume of the room, the power which seemed to surround his silver haired companion.

Yagari sighed at the surrounding fearful eyes, weariness overcoming him as he watched the remnants of his compassionate, gentle student stride through the halls of headquarters with all life missing from his face.

Although it didn't bother Zero in the least, it pained Yagari to see the fellow hunters judge him without knowing what a kind, selfless man he had once been – not the broken leftovers he had become.

The crowd was the largest at the doors of the conference room and a few hunters had been appointed, standing in front of the huge gate doors to keep intruders at bay. Each gate door was barred several times, seeming impossible to break through. One of the hunters, a particularly burly one, acknowledged the approaching group and walked up to meet them, hand hovering at the large row of knives strapped to his belt.

"Who goes?"

The blonde hunter took a sly step back to stand behind Zero and Yagari, attempting to keep his face hidden.

" Yagari Touga and Kiryu Zero, here for the scheduled council meeting."

The inspecting hunter, examined the two of them coldly, reluctant to let the younger pass through.

"Who's the third?"

A voice sounded behind the other two, seemingly trying to sound deeper than its usual velvet smooth tone.

"Their escort"

The inspecting hunter narrowed his eyes.

" You can't fool me, I recognize that voice", he pulled out several blades to rest between every finger with agile speed.

"Oh shit", muttered the blonde, running out of his 'shelter' in pursue of escape.

"Sakatzu you bastard! You still owe me money!"

Sakatzu, the blonde, narrowly dodged a knife flying in his direction.

"Look Roku, I told you I'd hand it over soon – just stop with the knives please!"

The burly hunter growled, his grimace barely hidden by his bushy beard. "That's what you said three months ago Sakatzu, you can't hide forever – that's no small debt hanging over your head"

Sakatzu ducked under the knife aiming for his head.

"Give me more time Roku, you can't kill me before this meeting anyway".

The fighting finally ceased as the burly hunter with the knives decided, grudgingly to let him off.

"Just this once. Next time you're finished."

A gentle whistle whipped through the air as the knife he held in his hand was slotted back in his belt in a flash.

The three of them were finally let in through the large doors, which shut with a slam behind them as they reached the huge dark domed room. Despite the circular room, a large rectangular table stretched from one curve to the other, the surrounding walls, covered with artefacts and portraits from dates far back in hunter history.

The antique chairs bordering the table, were almost completely filled as Zero, Yagari, and Sakatzu all sat themselves down where other hunters of important ranks were already waiting.

All eyes watched the vampire present from the corners of their eyes, some fists clenching slightly, itching towards weapons – every hunter reacted to his presence - except the woman sitting directly opposite of him. Her hair was tied back into a messy ponytail and her eyes were a cloudy mist grey, without any focus or light in the candlelit room. It appeared that she was blind, although she didn't seem at all incapable of injuring anyone who crossed her path and tried to get in her way. Her mouth was stern; her jaw constantly tightened, her face echoing the age of around thirty-five, but around her eyes settled laugh lines and a gentle humour lurking behind the murky waters of her irises.

Yet more hunters filed into the room, and Sakatsu, beside him felt the same impatience as everyone else in the room, except showing it more openly, yawning as he dropped his feet to slump on top of the table, his spiked boots scratching its surface.

A bullet shot to singe the shoe leather on its side, from the direction of a more elderly man with a thin white moustache and goatee, making a hole in the wood of the table below.

"Watch your step and show some respect", he growled, "This table was made a well long time before you were born, by your ancestors".

Yagari put his face in his hands with a sigh.

At long last, all required members of the Hunter's society were at their seats. The particularly large, throne-like chair remained empty at the head of the table, as there was no one to take it.

A hunter with short, dark, straight hair stood up, to call the attention of his colleagues. His expression was cold, without much feeling, his nose protruding at a very sharp angle and his eyebrows knit in an everlasting frown. He appeared to be a man made of pure and harsh logic, never basing decisions on feeling.

"I was the former director of communications and have therefore taken action to gather everyone here today to sort out the mess surrounding the state between humanity and the race of vampires. In the last three months, laziness and lack of control has led our duty to the brink of destruction. It is time now, to settle affairs and prepare the Hunter Society for a new routine of order, to lead us straight back to fulfil the responsibility that has been passed down through our families.

This is the first time in history that the list has been blank-"

"Someone needs to take control of the list – unlicensed killing is slipping under our grip without our notice and murders are being committed by our enemies, who go unhunted.

This is unforgivable"

Yagari glanced warily at Zero.

A hunter all dressed in black, a hood hiding his face, sitting on the end of the table said in deep voice,

"Vampires can not be killed if their names have not been inscribed on the list. The list will never be altered unless a leader is chosen. Only the leader of the Hunters has the power to control the list and control who lives or dies. Anyone who disobeys this will be sentenced to death. That is the rule and tradition"

Zero looked up from the table, his eyes staring down the hunter who had spoken. He sat calmly in his seat, one hand resting on the edge of the wood table, the other tensed as if anticipating the danger created by the watchful eyes around him.

"Tradition? We're considering tradition now? We have no time for such things – these are desperate times!", yelled a bearded man, his fist smashing to meet the table. A large dent was left behind.

The blind hunter with the ebony hair spoke softy yet sharply, turning her head in the direction of the other man.

"We have no choice. It is a rule we cannot physically break, constructed by our ancestors long ago."

Grunts of approval echoed around the domed room. The bearded man stood up from the table, his chair retreating in a deafening screech.

"Then I shall become the our leader!"

Arguing spread around the table like fire, eyes full of outrage, yells of harsh words tarnishing the forgotten silence.

All stopped when the wild crack of a bullet split through the air, shocking all hunters out of their uproar. Yagari's gun remained pointed to the ceiling, wisps of smoke falling calmly from its end as if it was fog clearing after a bitter storm. His hat loomed over his jet-black curly hair and his face, as he uttered words into the atmosphere, each one sharp and deep.

"I never knew our society had fallen into such disgrace"

It seemed that many of the hunters had managed to miss his presence there before, and were now watching in sudden fearful and awed, badly concealed respect at the legendary vampire hunter.

"It is widely known that only the most powerful hunter has the power to become the President."

The director of communications, watched him with a calculating expression, the bitter spite eminent in his eyes as he addressed Zero's master.

"Do you have the intention of becoming Hunter President, Yagari-san?"

Yagari Touga looked him straight in the eyes, his own narrowing.

"I'm not the most powerful hunter, there is another who is stronger than me", he replied.

Muttering broke amongst the council.

A quiet man with chocolate brown hair spoke up.

"Cross Kaien. He should become our leader – none of us could ever match him".

A voice interrupted his bitterly and sharply.

"Cross Kaien is not fit to be part of our community any longer. He is a traitor to our kind and has been imprisoned, will be imprisoned for the rotten leftovers of his life"

Several people gasped and half of them nodded in agreement at the news.

Zero kept his eyes down at the table, uninterested; ignoring the slight concerned look Yagari gave him in the corner of his eye.

"No. Not Cross. You can't deny it any longer."

Reluctant eyes turned to glare at Zero and he looked back with equal coldness from behind the strands of his silver hair.

"I will take on the role of President"

" I will not be ordered around by a leech", hissed a hunter to Zero's left.

The room once again burst into conflict.

"Vampire or human – he is still hunter, and the most dangerous of us all." The blind hunter commented through the crowd of retorts.

"He's weak – a vampire who's been tamed. A monster on a leash", spat a woman.

"And how do we know he's loyal? I heard Kiryu fell for a vampire girl – a pureblood at that", came the gruff voice of an agreeing man.

The hunter with the blind cloudy eyes cocked her head with interest in Zero's direction, her eyes, void of sight searching for him nevertheless.

"I am not who I was in the past. Make me your new president"

He was ignored by all but few.

"Yeah, that's right – it was Cross' daughter.", one hunter continued the 'scandalous' discussion.

"Oh yes! The whore who ran off with Kuran Kaname!", laughed a woman, piercings marring her face.

Zero's eyes pierced the speaker's momentarily, intensity glinting within their lavender hues for a split second, before he looked down again without interest.

"I repeat, I do not trust him to become President as we have no evidence of his loyalty"

"Then we set him a test", Sakatsu said slyly, finally deciding to become part of the conversation. His eyes held a humorous light.

"One that will prove to us that Kiryu is completely dedicated to the clensing of filth of from planet, the creatures which we defeat throughout our lives"

Every hunter hung onto his every word.

"In order to become President Kiryu Zero must kill Yuuki Cross – "

"No", Yagari interrupted, anger nearly concealed in his voice. "It is against our laws that we kill a vampire without cause-"

Sakatzu smoothly began to talk again as if he had never been so rudely interrupted. Each word he spoke moved fluidly onto the next with smooth grace.

"I'm sure, with a matter as serious as this one, we can afford one exception"

Hesitant mumbles of agreement answered his words, where others stayed silent, reluctant to voice their opinions.

"It shall be put to a vote", the communications director announced and Yagari scowled with rage.

"The severity of our situation deserves at least some consideration for the idea", he continued, "Vote now if you don't support the option raised by Sakatzu".

Around half of the hunters around the conference table raised their hands, Yagari and the blind woman included.

"This could never be justified", she spoke softly.

"And now place your vote if you support what must be done in order to restore the balance between the human and vampire race."

The majority raised their hands, and Yagari placed his face in his hands, trying to contain his anger and disgust.

"Will you, Kiryu Zero, kill Kuran Yuuki in order to gain our trust and become our President?"

Zero looked up, the cold glint in his eyes, the blank expression masking his face.

"I will"

He ignored the expression of pity settling on the face of the woman sitting opposite of him and stood up, heading towards the exit. Before he left the room, his eyes met those belonging to Sakatzu and they stared each other down, lilac meeting grey in a hard collision.

As the door shut with a hard slam, Yagari also left the table, maintaining a swift pace as he followed his student, a grim expression on his face.

Sakatzu felt significantly relaxed, enjoying the entertainment. He had thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Kiryu's life and his mind skimmed over the hunter's reactions, hearing the council discussing his personal history. It irritated Sakatzu to no end how his rival hunter managed to refrain from showing any emotion.

He glanced over to where Zero had been sitting. Deep crevices had been deformed into the wood of the table where he had been, in the shape of a fist, the surface flaking slightly where his nails had torn into it.

Sakatzu smirked. So Kiryu did once have some form of a love life. Who would ever have known?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All Yagari could see was his back walking swiftly away from him down the hall.

"Zero!", he yelled.

His student didn't stop, wouldn't wait for him.

"Stop!"

Yagari caught up to him and put a hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Zero, listen –"

His student spun around threw him off, anger tearing at his features. An almost wild look overtook Yagari as with desperation he smashed Zero into the wall. The light around them flicked and shadow enveloped both of their faces as a teacher stared his pupil straight in the eyes, the frustration and sadness shing with his deep blue irises.

"This is madness Zero! Stop it now! Before you do something you'll regret!"

He earned a powerful blow to the face, and was sent backwards into the hard bricks of the opposite wall ,which began to crumble due to Yagari's large weight. The layer of dust clouding the air was heavy and blood trickled out from his gasping mouth.

"Zero!"

He staggered up, his hat falling off in the process. Yagari followed with hectic speed in the direction his student had taken.

He only caught a last glimpse of him as he disappeared into everlasting crowd, lost in its depths.

"I'll regret nothing"

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**So that's the end! Phew… now off to write the eighth chapter. I've already written a lot of it so maybe it'll come out sooner than usual! I have to admit I lost a little inspiration with this chapter (as in the one you've just read), I'm sorry if it isn't up to usual standard. I lost some enthusiasm whilst writing about all the OCs – I'm not really into OCs so it put me down a little. I may edit this chapter in the future – but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Also, don't worry Rima, Shiki, Ichijou lovers – I haven't forgotten, there will be plenty in store for them later I promise, just not at the moment!**

**Feel free to review, it's always appreciated! And stay tuned, as I can ensure you next chapter will be very dramatic. I've been looking forward to it for a while! –wink- Thanks for reading!!!**


	8. Bonus: Kiss Of Knives

**Author's Note – Well I've been writing Chapter Eight recently (obviously :P) but I've come to a stage where I have too much going on (in the story) so I've had to cut things out… However, I couldn't bring myself to abandon this little section, because I enjoyed writing it so much. Soooooooo I decided to add this as a bonus chapter instead of including it in chapter eight, which will come later. This mini chapter's very short compared to everything else I've written but I hope you enjoy it anyway as a break from all that scrolling!!! Heehee XD**

**IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! – This is another one of Yuuki's dreams in my story – so it doesn't actually physically happen, so don't get confused. I based it on one of my favourite bits of the manga – okay fine I admit it – my FAVOURITE part of the manga. I'm sure you've already guessed what it is…**

**Chapter Song: Love Song Requiem – Trading Yesterday**

* * *

Bonus Chapter – Kiss Of Knives

She was at that time. That night tattooed to her mind.

The moon was sharp with penetrating light, the air crisp and cold, and her skin numb with feeling. Tears were leaking as she stared straight ahead, trying to keep herself together, the wind streaming through her hair threatening to push her over. It wasn't working and it took all she had not to hold him as he was holding her, trembling.

It was that time. That night.

Zero…

That time after they had killed Uncle Rido together.

His large ivory hands were entwined, lost in her hair and she could feel the ragged movement of his chest as he pressed her against it. His warm breath gently tickled her forehead.

It was all a mess. She had made a new enemy tonight. One she had never intended to make.

If he was an enemy… how could it be he so soft and warm, as he refused to let her go?

Why was it that despite his intent to kill her, the danger he possessed, she could never be afraid – that she felt safer than she ever had before?

His arms, cradling around her were her sanctuary, the beating of his swelling heart was her home. He was burning, but with something that enveloped her, surging throughout her skin. She was unable to move – wanting time and reality to freeze/

Stay like this forever…

"Is the Yuuki I know… is she inside you?"

She stayed silent, compressed by her heart.

The arms around her tightened, and Zero's heavy breathing shaped words in softly to meet her ear.

"She is…although she might melt into the other one and disappear completely"

Arms loosened.

No…

Air filled the space between them and his hands slipped out of the tresses of her now long dark hair, and they were separated.

Stop…

She could see his face again. Those broken melting eyes, clinging to the gaze of hers – the slight trickle of her blood on his cheek. His hands shook, his entire body shaking with torment as he lifted them to hold her face. Yuuki skipped a breath as she felt his struggle as her own.

Something in him snapped and with sudden desperation he crushed her lips with his own.

Yuuki's eyes closed. An echo rippled in her head as she felt herself paralyse with shock.

She felt… nothing. Her lips were bare. All she could taste was the same stale air that surrounded her.

She felt absolutely nothing.

Her heart plummeted.

Its beat skipped erratically.

Why couldn't she feel it? She knew what it had felt like. She remembered it with crystal clarity. She strained for that feeling, grabbing for it with outstretched hands – but it never came.

No…

Her heart felt weak… and heavy, threatening to sink.

Her eyes wrenched open with a flash and she looked around frantically for the man who was no longer beside her.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end.

A gasp escaped from her throat, as she caught sight of the crushed moon dorm and Zero once more.

But this time, she only saw his back, as he was desperately kissing someone else.

A sharp pain struck her and she fell to her knees.

"Zero!", she screamed.

_Look at me Zero!_

"Zero!", she shrieked. All she could see was the shadow of a woman pressing her lips against his soft full ones, his hands clutching her face.

No… Zero…

What about me?

The image of the woman slowly began to become clearer and Yuuki managed to recognize her long brown hair and day class uniform.

Her eyes widened. She gasped as her mirror image opened her eyes and stared straight into her own. They held an evil glint and accompanied a menacing smirk beneath Zero's lips.

No. That wasn't her. It couldn't be her.

Yuuki watched in horror as she saw herself extend a knife from behind her back, her smile widening, eyes taunting her own.

"ZERO! LOOK OUT!!!"

He couldn't hear her, no matter how she screamed, as he continued to kiss the girl he loved. Yuuki's double smirked in her direction one last time before she thrust the knife into Zero's unprotected back.

"STOP!!!"

Zero gasped, lilac eyes swimming as he crumpled to the ground.

"Yuuki…"

He shuddered his last breath, his moonlight hair starting to bleach red in the puddle collecting where he lay. Her legs, dragged her body to where he lay with a sluggish speed. They could never be fast enough. She could never reach him.

Her copy barred her movement, standing in her way, refusing to let her get through. Fists banged, fingers clawed, but none could touch her – an endless barrier she could never pass.

Yuuki's rasping voice, going hoarse from ceaseless screams whispered with its last stricken strength in wild anger and pain at her clone.

"Why? You killed him! You monster…"

Yuuki was beyond upset, her vision tunnelling. Her clone smiled.

"No', came the identical voice. Yuuki forgot to breathe as the mirror image began to flicker and die away.

"You did."

Yuuki looked down to see the bloodied knife in her hand.

_You're the one who killed him… Yuuki…_

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**Okay, so the REAL chapter eight will be next time… which hopefully won't be far away? I'm quite a busy bee nowadays… I hope this bonus chappie will hold you till then…**

**On a second note – I finally managed to buy the 7****th**** VK volume yesterday. About time it came out in the UK…. even though it was around a month ago – I couldn't quite get a hold of it. But I'M NEWLY OBSESSED SO ALL IS GOOD!!! That and chapter 54 which just recently came out. You can't imagine how much of a wild frenzy I'm in right now. How can I wait another month for the next one?!?!… aaaaaah screw monthlies. –sob-**


	9. A Beautiful Madness

**Author's Note – Long time no see! I'm back with the next chapter! Woohoo! See I didn't forget about this fanfic after all! I would've updated sooner, but a series of catastrophes prevented me from doing so – number one being that I lost my squishy blue fan fiction book… which was really REALLY scary. (Although you should have seen the face of the woman in lost property when I asked her whether she had seen a 'squishy' notebook – that was priceless) But I found it again, after much running around frantically like a headless chicken, and so I'm back on track!**

**I'm sorry it's been so long – but hopefully I can make it up to you with this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

**I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to my best friend (PurpleHope), who edited this chapter for me and had to deal with all my silly typos and frivolous mistakes! XD Thank you!**

**Chapter Song Choice: Breathe Me - Sia**

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Chapter Eight – A Beautiful Madness

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Yuuki's minute fingers trailed across the polished pews are she strode down the aisle, imagining how she would do the very same thing at the same time tomorrow. The sun was being swallowed by the ground, melting into a puddle of molten gold, and she could only catch a glimpse of it as some of its last rays streaked out from small round windows. Windows planted on the ceiling of a make-do church.

Her feelings were still strangers, shadowing the sunset rising behind the one she could barely see now. She wanted to think she was ready, that she could approach the next day with her head held high, lips ready to lift into a smile for the many strangers that would surround her in their appointed aisles.

There was truly nothing to worry about. Yes, she could say it confidently now. Everything was falling into place.

Ruka had thoroughly organised every arrangement, making it her business to buy her the most exquisite wedding dress Yuuki had ever set eyes on. She had also irritably insisted on keeping everyone out of the ballroom so that she could transform it into the beauty Yuuki could only wonder at now.

And she wasn't the only one who had been kept busy, by any means.

Kaname had been shut in his study for days, writing invitations to the many aristocrats and 'friends' that were required to attend his wedding. He had deemed that it was pointless to keep the existence of his sister, and fiancée, a secret from society any longer – as she would be forever safe under his wing.

It was a wing she could barely see, the only thing visible being the charred feathers snowing from up above, brushing lightly against her fingers. She wished she could see him more often.

To make matters worse, although the moments that he could spend time talking to her were scarce, he had managed to find the time to arrange for Yuuki to get her fill of education – something she had managed to avoid for the last several months.

As a result, Aido had been appointed as her personal tutor, with Kain sometimes watching in the background, making the odd comment where he saw fit. It seemed that these two were the ones Yuuki ended up spending time with the most, and she had gotten accustomed to the constant frustrated face of her tutor as he strained himself to teach an almost hopeless student. Kain didn't say or do much except for offering to teach Yuuki a few combat skills occasionally, which she thoroughly enjoyed, welcoming a familiar feeling as she wielded her Artemis once more; the lonely Artemis which had been wasting away deep in the corner of her swallowing closet.

In conclusion, the last month had exhausted her immensely, and she was grateful – it was distracting. Pushing all troubles to the back of her mind, Yuuki could almost salvage some sort of happiness. After all, this was always how it was supposed to be, how it had always been arranged.

Ever since she had been little, Yuuki knew in her mind that she would marry Kaname someday - that she would walk down the aisle and see him standing at the end.

He would be waiting there. Waiting patiently like he always did.

Kaname had waited for her over the lapse of a lengthy ten years – always alone. That solitude, which had transformed her older brother into the stern, powerful man he had become, weighed her down like bricks. The fact that it was all her fault -that while she had been busy playing in her little sandbox, he had been suffering - struck her with a constant pain, an oozing bruise in her side.

Now it was her turn to make it all worth something - to prove that she was worth the wait. Maybe that was why she could feel acid gnawing at her insides, and a pang striking against the lock chained around her heart.

Everything would have been a lot easier if so much hadn't happened in the last ten years.

But she was here now, at Kuran Manor… everything was perfect … although, the truth remained. She couldn't touch it, but somehow she could feel it nevertheless. She had become cold, brittle, an ice sculpture that could not melt – something that was enjoyable to admire, to look at, but that not one dared to feel. Yuuki could only rely on her hope that it would just all eventually fade away into snow, and she would finally forget, and forgive herself, as years passed and she sat home as Mrs Kaname Kuran, a title that had been destined for her since the instant she was born.

Yes. Everything would turn out the way it should in the end.

She took a deep breath and slowly managed to grow a smile on the surface of her perfectly powdered face.

Yuuki tried to recount in her mind how many guests were attending her wedding. There were certainly many pews – they stretched far into the distance with seemingly no end. There was no guessing how long it would take her to walk the aisle tomorrow.

Her eyes grazed the many benches and then came to rest on one of the pews in the front on the bride's side of the church.

At first, it occurred to her that her eyes might be deceiving her, but as she looked more closely, there could be no doubt in her mind that something was out of place in the spectacularly arranged ballroom.

There seemed to be a man sitting down, his back towards her, seemingly watching the large altar not far in front of him.

It was far too early for guests to be entering this room. She frowned. Guests had been filing into the Kuran manor in hordes for the last few days, having been sent directions or having been guided by Seiren, but every one of them had received strict orders not to enter this room until the rising ceremony.

Yuuki adjusted her gown, eyes straining to crack their encasing ice, a stretching smile stitched to her face as she glided down the aisle towards the man. There must have been some mistake – a guest that had been mistakenly overlooked. She would politely inform him of the arrangements that had somehow avoided him.

"Excuse me, sir"

The man showed no sign of having heard her. Yuuki knit her eyebrows with annoyance, losing patience. She struggled to press down the anger that was threatening to flash though her blood.

"Sir, guests aren't permitted to enter this room yet"

Her high heels tapped lightly on the marble floor as she drifted closer. The man was now ten pews away and could surely hear her. She glared at the back of his crisp black suit and matching top hat; a typical accessory of many guests attending her wedding, which obscured his head from her vision.

He seemed to be ignoring her, paying no attention to her at all.

Yuuki felt a foreign temper boil throughout her blood and her fist clenched, the ground shaking slightly under her feet.

How impertinent! She was the bride and he was coming to her wedding! Who did he think he was ignoring her in this fashion!

She marched yet closer to the man, still retaining poise and grace as she moved.

"I'm going to have to ask you to l-"

Her sentence caught on her tongue, cut off by her throat as he eyes fell on a detail concerning the man that she had failed to notice before. Strands of pure silver hair spilled subtly from beneath his hat, the colour teasing the light against the contrasting black.

Just the possibility cracked her world into splinters.

Her heart felt too weak to beat and her skin mellowed to a deathly white, banishing all colour she had managed to earn in the last four weeks.

Silver hair… as far as she knew it was quite rare…and it was fairly obvious that the man was young… tall and lean… just like a certain person she used to know.

It was as if a train had slammed into her body, driving away all senses in the flash of a second, which mirrored her heartbeat. She had been struck to the floor in all ways but that of her body, which stayed still and standing with silent horror.

The man rose from his place in the pew, his hat over-shadowing his face, and he started to walk quickly away, never once glancing behind him. His long legs moved with a rapid grace, and every step he took moved him further away from Yuuki's wide and watering eyes, as she hunted with all her will for some proof that the man who steadily disappeared from her vision was who she was almost convinced he could only be. All she could force herself to do was watch.

She felt slightly faint as a light, floating, feeling flooded her with dizziness – a blinding white thick mist that enveloped her senses.

The guest took one step too many, and soon he had vanished entirely from her view.

Panic awoke in the shape of fireworks in Yuuki's stomach, and life was returned to her legs. Her breath came back with a hiccupping jolt. Shattered, she broke into a run, tripping dangerously on her heels. She dove for the corner and stopped, her eyes darting from wall to wall, anticipation causing her limbs to shake.

Her ears detected fast footsteps to the right and she tripped, her dress ripping devastatingly in her panic to rush forward. She barely noticed as her shaking body broke through extremes to race down the dark candle-lit corridors in desperate flight.

"Zero!", the name ripped from her mouth in between gasps for air. All sense had abandoned her and all she was, replaced with a burning passion singing her insides.

He had ceased to walk, his back towards her as he gazed up at the gigantic window above his head with an air of tranquility. The rays of sun there once had been during sunset had been converted to rays of moonlight, bouncing off his hat to reflect in her direction.

His chin lifted and his hat fell to the floor, tendrils of hair escaping in its fall.

Yuuki braked, her legs jerking her to a shocked stop. Her breath staggered as she was robbed of it, eyes focused on the figure casting a silhouette against the moonlight which nearly exactly matched his hair.

His name was once again uttered in a whisper of lips, and her eyes registered him flinch.

Slowly he turned, so that she could see his face.

His eyes - so sad. His face - fighting expression. Just the way she had remembered it. A stray tear found its way trickling down Yuuki's unshielded face.

"Yuuki…", breathed Zero, his low voice so soft it was barely detectable. His hand outstretched towards her and his long porcelain fingers captivated her as they extended in her direction.

He was reaching for her from the surface of a sea of drowning waters. She was drifting far away, as if lost in place he knew he couldn't reach.

Her eyes burned, acid tears finding their way, corroding crevices across her face. All emotions started to meld together in warped fury, a surge of fire curling from her heart, like the flick of a dragon's tongue, to wrap around the rest of her body. Her voice rasped as if baked dry from the heat.

"Why are you here?", her voice cracked.

He made no response.

Her hands shook and clenched, fingers curling into almost claw-like shapes, as she felt sharp bright glass seep into her body and heart.

She had been snagged in multiple currents, all leading to one place – the place where Zero stood. The willpower ensnaring arms around her small body, had been tugging her in multiple directions, but had now joined forces, forcing her eyes to narrow at something she now regarded as an enemy. It served as fuel to her body as she was released, speeding towards her childhood friend's direction with an unknown force she hadn't known she possessed.

Red crept up to taint her vision and she couldn't stop herself, her eyes widening with a blinding mixture of anger and fear. The fury controlling her shocked her and she felt all control desert her, surrendering her to its wrath.

"You shouldn't have come!"

Her voice shrieked and all she could feel was an urge to kill. All she wanted more than anything was for all the conflict she had been experiencing since she had made her decision to come to an end. She wanted to destroy it, and forget. Forget forever.

So she would destroy the one thing that kept holding her back.

Her arm lifted as she ran, her hand curling into a fist – knuckles brandished in the direction of Zero's face. Screams harmonized harshly, bouncing echoes in her head and her vision tunnelled.

He had no intention of avoiding her. He stayed still, the lavender abysses of his eyes only following her movements as she bee-lined towards him.

The space between them was steadily closing with an astonishing pace and Yuuki closed her eyes, throwing her fist forward, with a blow that she hoped would serve as the end of her troubles.

She gasped as she made contact with a sudden stop.

The silence rippled through the room, threatening to push her over.

She opened her eyes, the surprise forcing them to lift.

Her fist lay, suspended in the air, centimetres from Zero's face. Yuuki gasped, and her eyes watered. Her hand was trembling violently, unable to push forward. She had made contact with a barrier that she had unknowingly created between herself and his body, one that she hadn't known had existed.

She couldn't make herself punch him. Her own body had betrayed her.

Yuuki couldn't bear to lift her head and look up, all she managed was to stare at the hand which had betrayed her as it refused to stop shaking. She felt ice slide under her skin like needles, as she tasted that bitter flavour in her mouth.

She felt completely lost – powerless, a never-ending victim to herself. Time had stopped and left her behind. Her mind remained empty, refusing to think.

What came next shocked her even more.

A large white hand gently came to rest on top of her curled fist, its fingers perfectly cradling her own, causing her to jump and shudder. His skin was cold, yet warm and excruciatingly infectious and she felt her heart fall into a pit of shame.

Yuuki looked up reluctantly into those lavender eyes she knew only too well, losing all conscious feeling of his hand on top of hers, the one that had been threatening to hit him. They overruled her. Threatened to pull her in and drown her in their mulling depths.

But instead, they pulled away, thinning out to a translucent shade of what they had once been. Her head shook subconsciously as she yearned to snatch at their almost silvery hues before they died completely away.

For as all her anger melted away… so did Zero.

Yuuki stared in terror as his skin paled from white to translucent. His eyes, hair, body and everything that went with them, vanishing into the atmosphere.

The corridor was left bare and naked in his absence.

Yuuki's hand fell… and her body followed, collapsing with a loud thud onto the floor.

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The floor was cold and hard against her cheek, and she could barely find the strength to wonder how it refrained from becoming soggy as droplets escaped her eyes, rippling across its surface.

Her body refused to move, her limbs unresponsive, like those belonging to a powerless doll splayed out on the floor.

_I can't hit him… I can't ever hurt him… I can't even make myself truly want to…_

It had finally hit her – how much she missed him.

Yuuki burst into loud sobs.

_Zero…_

How much she had missed seeing his face. The way he looked at her. His was a face she had no power to erase; she knew it better than her own. She wanted nothing more right now than to see him again, to talk to him…

To regain that part of herself she knew he had taken with him so far away.

Guilt tied knots in her stomach and she could feel its pendulum swinging in its depths. If only for a little bit, even if it wasn't truly him, Zero had come to her wedding. What would Zero think if he knew that she was… getting married… of all things?

She wouldn't be able to look him in the face.

Was it cruel, that when she had seen him there… that she had felt…happy? Although she could only recognize it now – that warm familiar feeling which felt to her a sort of home. Was it cruel that she only had to look into his eyes to find home again… a place she had been searching for so very long and still couldn't find…. ?

Even though she knew that the Zero she had seen there wasn't real – could never be real.

What she had seen had just been a memory replaying constantly in her head. The real Zero, she was never allowed to see again – and somehow she knew that he wouldn't welcome her in quite the same way as before.

But it was no use pretending to herself anymore. It was no use pleading. She needed him badly, desperately. She would do almost anything to get that chance to cry on his shoulder and feel his familiar arms around her one more time – the crutch she'd always fallen back on.

He'd always been the one person who had always been there to catch her – but now that he was gone, she crashed to the floor.

Yuuki scrunched up her eyes, trying to quench her tears, the muscles in her face clenching, as she could no longer find any control to keep her on her handmade leash.

"Come back…", the words came in a gargled whisper, and she smothered her face with her hands, shame making them tremble.

"This isn't the way a bride should act before a wedding, Yuuki-chan"

Yuuki jumped, her heart banging against her ribcage, as she was suddenly brought back to reality. Her crying silenced with a sudden hiccup. She attempted to sit up a little and turned to see whom it was who had spoken, wincing when she saw whom it was.

"Don't worry about me, Maria. I'm fine."

Her voice cracked through clenched teeth. Yuuki's eyes widened at the effort needed to add a small warped smile to her face.

A wide toothy grin answered her smile, and something about it sent a shiver down her spine. She really didn't have the patience for this right now.

"Oh good! I see some of your traits have yet to entirely disappear! That's great Yuuki-chan! You keep holding on!"

Yuuki's attempt at a smile fell and Maria skipped lightly to stand nearby her crumpled figure, leaning against the towering wall.

"But it won't do any good. Eventually everything you knew to be yourself is still going to vanish and wither away into a memory."

Yuuki felt a poison seep into her heart and she fought her clenching fists, a bitter taste settling on the base of her tongue.

She was sick of Maria's little mind games – how she constantly played with her mind.

"Shut up!" Yuuki spat.

"Frankly, I'm proud of you Yuuki-chan. I thought you'd lost the last shred of sanity long ago."

The sadness and the flare of anger growing inside her were going to her head and she was starting to feel delirious. Why was it that she could never be left to herself? Was it really too much to ask to be left alone?

Yuuki felt blistering heat envelop her skin, an itch that she was dying to scratch away. Her teeth meshed together, her fangs scraping together in a bitter collision.

Even more alarming was the growing pull of bloodlust, scorching her throat with clawing fingers.

"", Yuuki found herself hissing.

Maria giggled. The sound echoing through the air like the taunting tinkling of bells. There was something sinister about her smile, it crept under Yuuki's skin like an unwelcome parasite.

"Aww… Yuuki, you look hungry. How pitiful. Your face is starting to truly reflect the beast you truly are."

"Are you starting to feel that surge of insanity infecting your blood? That rash creeping up the inside of your throat, the steady sharpening of fangs?"

An acid tear trembled down Yuuki's cheek. She wanted her to stop.

Why wouldn't she stop?

The scary overwhelming will to kill made her mind feel so foreign to her. She could feel her body slipping over the brink.

Maria bent down to whisper in her hair and Yuuki's breath hissed.

"I do so hate being wrong you know Yuuki-chan. Why don't you prove to me that there's nothing left…"

"That now… you're exactly like the rest of us."

If Maria was going to say anything more, Yuuki would never have known.

Maria slammed into the opposite wall, her head colliding with it with a sickening crack.

Yuuki watched panting, raging with silent satisfaction as the little girl, her prey, slid limply to the floor. She mulled over the power she could feel throbbing in her curled fingers, finding that it fuelled the rage that had caused her to throw Maria across the room.

An almost hysterical laugh tore through the air, causing Yuuki to freeze, her red eyes wavering.

"Were you really so naïve to think that you could escape the same fate as the rest of us? If you want to give up your soul to the vampire inside you – why don't you go all the way?"

Yuuki let out a roar and clasped her hands powerfully around the aristocrat's throat. A thin puddle of blood coated the ground at Yuuki's knees. No matter how the pureblood threatened and squeezed, the haunting ring of laughter refused to cease. The whites of Maria's eyes shone a milky glint at her touch.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?", Yuuki shrieked.

Maria's face began to warp and change, her limbs starting to lengthen, and her image becoming blurry with the movement.

"WHAT IS IT THAT YOU'RE SCHEMING?"

Maria's grey hair fanned out into a longer length and took a silvery tone, as her eyes took on a rosier shade. Elegant, although bloody, robes took the place of Maria's simple gown.

Yuuki's eyes widened, her hands loosening around the throat she had no choice but to register as belonging to none other than Hio Shizuka.

The sharp, piercing eyes of the other pureblood woman petrified Yuuki and her hands started to withdraw. Shizuka's face was calm, looking up at Yuuki with quiet understanding.

"Kaname's not around much is he? And you feel lonely, don't you?"

Yuuki froze, eyes watering.

Shizuka's eyes flashed softly.

"But that's not why you feel sad, is it?"

A surprisingly soft smile lit up the pureblood's face with a translucent light. Yuuki trembled with shock, and for a moment Yuuki wondered, staring at her hands… what she was doing.

Why had she been strangling Maria…Shizuka? Why was she doing this? How had she become so… angry?

Shizuka's eyes sparkled knowingly as Yuuki stared with an expression of horror at her tainted hands, which were smeared with blood.

She was descending into madness – just like last time. Why wasn't it all over? It just never ended did it? All the pain… all the pain she inflicted on people…

Why was everything so blurry? Why…when everything used to be so clear… back at home. She wanted it to feel like back then…. be like she had been back then, instead of the despicable creature she had become.

Everything was twisted…warped. She felt so _wrong._

Yuuki crawled away, stumbling, one limb after another, feeling like she might retch.

Shizuka floated up to stand on both feet and followed her, towering from above, a hand offered out in her direction.

Once again Yuuki felt like the little child she had been ten years ago, running away from a blood-hungry vampire, but this time that vicious beast of a vampire from whom she fled was herself… and she had never felt so afraid…

Yuuki forced herself to stand up, taking a step back as she saw Shizuka approaching.

"Stay back! Keep away from me!"

Her legs gave way and she fell once again to the floor.

_This must be a dream._

_It's all a dream._

Yuuki squeezed her eyes shut and willed everything away.

Gently, the Kuruizaki-hime lifted the young girl in her arms, cradling her as if she were a baby, ignoring the small whimpers.

Yuuki felt a heavy wave of fatigue fall on her and her mind became hazy, her eyelids heavy.

"Sleep now, and until you wake up, have peace. And remember, if ever you need my help – you shall have it."

Slowly the elder woman carried the younger to the safety of her bedroom, and after closing the door with a long white hand, withered away into cherry blossoms to join a soft breeze.

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**Please read and review! I would love to hear everyone's opinions! (Even if it's criticism! :D) It's always nice to hear from you!**

**I'll try to update the next chapter as fast as I can!!!**


	10. An Unexpected Friend

**Author's Note – Hehehe… (nervous laugh) I know it's been a while… please don't kill me. Pretty please??? Anyway, FINALLY I've managed to bring myself to finish off this chapter – and frankly I'm quite glad I can finally get it off my chest! Yay!**

**It amuses me in a strange way that although I have this fan fiction on my brain twentyfour-seven, and I MEAN twentyfour-seven, the time I can actually buckle myself down and actually write seems to be ridiculously scarce. I think I'm back on track though, so it's all okay! XD It's just that I'm a bit of a silly perfectionist when it comes to writing, I stress over it a little too much – and I came to a point where I wasn't sure this fan fiction was good enough for me to continue writing. BUT you guys have encouraged me to keep going, and so for that I'm really thankful! For all the people who reviewed, favourited or alerted this story – this chapter's all thanks to you!**

**About this chapter, I would like to make something clear before your minds start to wonder in a certain direction. This is NOT an AidoxYuuki fan fiction – so don't get any ideas. If you see any lurrrve, I assure you that in 'Awakening Absence' it is friendship lurrrrve, cappische? So if I see in reviews 'are you going to make this into an AidoxYuuki story?' I may shoot you. And if you say it as a joke I'll laugh THEN shoot you. No violence intended. ;D**

**Also, from the end of next chapter and onwards this story, I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear, is going to get happier and less depressing – so hold on people! See the light! Although it will never quite be fluffy bunny, candycanes, dancing elves kind of happy… as this IS Vampire Knight… and Zero's still off in a huff somewhere unfortunately.**

**Lastly, and after this I promise I'll shut up before the disclaimer, Shiki, Rima and** **Ichijou will turn up again soon so I assure you that I haven't forgotten them, despite their lack of action recently. Other pairings I'm not concentrating on too much in the present will get their chance. It's hard work developing four…. Possibly five later if I can do it… pairings at the same time. You've got to worship Matsuri Hino, how does she do it???**

**Disclaimer: **

**SFC(me): Okay, Chairman! It's your time to shine! Take it away!**

**Chairman: Ooh! Hello! I got this new feather-boa today, look - covered in sparkles in such a flattering light shade of pink – and all for half price!**

**SFC: Wait, what? Where did that come from?! I thought you were being all badass and vampirehuntery now! Don't tell me you've gone back to old frivolous ways!**

**Chairman: Well yes… I know… but someone has to keep the spirits up will all the blood and gore floating around! Just for fun!.. And to see Kiryu-kun's face! Kukuku**

**SFC: Point taken – let's get on with it!**

**Chairman: Indeed! Matsuri Hino owns Vampire Knight and all original characters from it, including myself! Have a nice day everyone!**

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Chapter Nine- An Unexpected Friend

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_Zero, you're what I reach for when I fall…_

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Aido tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk, the constant drumming filling the study as he continued to demonstrate his endless boredom. He could barely find room enough for his fingers - as the mahogany desk was smothered with papers, letters and textbooks – all of which could have been for nothing if all this time was going to be spent waiting, for someone who seemed as if she would never come. He glanced lazily at the grandfather clock shadowing him from the opposite side of the room and sighed, frowning. The gold hands shuddered forward in time as the seconds -stretching to minutes- wasted before his eyes.

How annoying.

Aido had been urging to do something with himself all day, maybe that was why he had been strangely looking forward to this lesson this afternoon. He had been tutoring Yuuki for quite some time now – everyday for four hours a day – and not one of those days had she been late. How ironic it was that Yuuki hadn't hesitated to be on time every lesson until now where he felt this was the last place he wished to be – yet, the one time when he was truly becoming eager she had choose this time not to show up to see him at all.

He found it slightly unnerving… something didn't quite seem right.

He exchanged a look with Kain, who leaned against the wall in his usual position, hands stuffed in his pockets, eyes wearily watching Aido as he started to puzzle.

It was true that arrangements had been increasingly busy and frantic recently at the Kuran Manor, he reasoned. It was a fairly acceptable explanation for Yuuki's absence if she was being held up preparing tomorrow - perhaps Ruka had finally lost her nerve and was pounding the young pureblood this instant, still sour over the wedding.

Aido allowed himself a small smirk, before colliding with a dose of unwelcome guilt, which plummeted to the pit of his stomach with the taste of sour medicine. He grimaced, eyes glued to the table with effort as he tried to ignore it. Giving up and willing it away, he acknowledged somewhere in his brain that she was in a great deal of pain, and despite their differences, could admit that he felt a little sympathetic towards her.

Somehow, Aido couldn't get rid of the feeling that neither of those two possibilities he had considered was the answer to Yuuki's absence.

He considered… wondered… could something have had happened to the young pureblood?

He sighed again, exasperated. If so, Yuuki Cross was truly a nuisance. Whenever she was around, trouble followed her – whether she was a vampire or not. Looking after her was a full time job and it made him wonder how he managed to get any sleep at night.

Grumpily, he stood up from his chair with a jerk, the wooden frame consequentially toppling over into the cabinet behind with a great smash as he moved, cracking the framed glass. Aido winced, and moved the chair back to its original place. Kain slapped his forehead with a sigh.

"Um… I'm going to go look for her"

Kain nodded and followed him out the door.

As they walked, they stopped at every door, peering inside to see if they could spot a certain dark-haired vampire – but so far they could find none. The deadly silence of the mansion and their inability to find her was starting to make him anxious. If Kaname knew…

Aido's blonde brows furrowed as his genius brain considered all the probable places she could be. They checked the dining room, but the tables were bare; the chairs empty. The ballroom was also deserted; all they could see were the numerous aisles leading up to the altar. That left Yuuki's bedroom as the only last place she could really be, and therefore the two cousins made their way towards it, the sound of their shoes echoing across the floor.

Aido huffed, a couple of dangling blonde curls blowing up in the process. She had better not be in there.

If he found out she was sleeping, all snug in bed instead of studying he would definitely give that girl a piece of his mind. She should be thankful that he took the time to tutor her every day; after all, there was no one else better suited to the job.

His pale hand firmly grasped the door handle and pushed down, easing open the carved door.

Aido and Kain blinked. The darkness of the room flooded in, and if it weren't for their inhuman eyes, they wouldn't have been able to see anything at all.

"Cro – I mean Yuuki-sama?"

Crumpled bed sheets littered the floor, appearing more like ghosts of grey in the sparse light, which leaked out, from the hallway behind them. The room seemed in ruin, unkempt – the chamber reflecting that of someone sickly more than anything else.

Aido's eyes scanned the room, darting from the bed to the wardrobe, the anxiety increasing with every look. He finally spotting the curled up bundle camouflaged amongst the tumbled bed sheets on the floor.

Aido had never seen such a mess.

Her hair was spread out like a fan on the floor, hiding all signs of her face, which remained glued, entirely buried in the floor. Her dress twisted around her in shreds, and her feet were bare as she lay pathetically in a little ball. The visible skin dimmed a sickly white, veins glowing clearer than they should – dark streaks of lightning, marring her skin.

He searched for any possible humour, but it never came. This was no joke. He had never seen anyone… in so much pain for all of his life. Although maybe, not much could be said coming from a pampered, spoilt aristocrat boy raised in a wealthy living family.

He watched her back with wide eyes as it shuddered between intervals of her ragged, wheezed breathing – panic rising within him at every breath.

"Yuuki-sama!", he crouched down beside her head.

"Are you alright? Speak to me!"

Kain looked cautiously outside the room to see if there was anyone else around who could witness their situation, his arm barring the doorway.

Aido heard a weak whisper from under the messy curtains of her hair.

"Aido-senpai?"

Hanabusa had no idea what to say, god knew he was helpless in these situations. He looked away, feeling pathetic – a feeling he had never been accustomed to. He jumped as he felt a hand grab his arm – and looked back into a teary face, freezing as it begged him with dripping red-brown eyes.

"Help me…"

Kain jumped as he heard an approaching Ruka coming down the hall.

"I'll go, you take care of her".

It was their duty to prevent anyone else from seeing someone such as Yuuki Kuran, the youngest pureblood ever to be seen of the night clan, in such a state.

Aido nodded solemnly and watched as his cousin stepped out of the room to intercept the approaching Ruka, taking her by the hand and leading her steadily away. With a sigh he grabbed Yuuki's hands and helped her up, supporting her ragdoll form as she nearly slumped, crumpled back to the floor. The young girl stifled a sob, not daring to meet his eyes again.

"Let's go"

He guided her slowly out the room with wide, disbelieving eyes, as he lead her around gently as if she was a small child, likely to tumble over. Kain had successfully prevented anyone from wandering this way and Aido sighed with relief, knowing that he could freely lead Yuuki to his study. He watched as Yuuki took little steps inside the room and waited until he had successfully helped her through the door to close it behind them. He didn't dare let go of her hand, concerned by the consequences that could occur if he did.

Aido had never seen her looking so fragile, so broken. For the last month he had noted - had had no choice but to note, that Yuuki had not acted or…smiled the same as the Yuuki who had pestered him back at Cross Academy. She had become almost lifeless, false – but still…never like this.

He pulled out an armchair and carefully helped lower her onto it. Despite his efforts, she folded to its sinking cushions almost violently with another choked sob. Once that was completed, Aido drew a blank as to what he ought to do – it really was like dealing with a little child – something with which he had almost no experience, despite the fact that he had a little sister. So maybe this was what it was like to be a father! It looked as if he just wasn't cut out for the job…

Aido caught sight of the kettle settled on a tray situated in a corner of the room, his light at the end of the tunnel. Ah! He would make her some tea!

He approached the kettle, relieved that there was some way to occupy himself in this very testing situation. Satisfied that the kettle seemed to already be filled, he flicked the switch, trying to block out the stifled sobbing behind him with the rustling of water starting to heat.

A few minutes later he poured the water into a teacup and plopped in the teabag. His cheeks reddened, and he felt ridiculously foolish, half wanting to bang his head against the metal surface of the kettle a couple times over. This was something the servants would normally do – but desperate actions called for desperate measures, and calling such aids was only a flirting fantasy, floating in the depths of his head.

When the tea was ready, he turned around, the steaming china teacup in his outstretched in his hand. Aido groaned under his breath, grimacing, as he caught sight of Yuuki cradling her face in hands – her crying seemingly unstoppable. Was there any way to stop her crying? The urge to fly out the room twisted in his gut, yet he brought himself to slowly approach her again, holding out the cop and saucer towards her at arms length.

"Uhh…here you go"

Yuuki looked up with bloodshot, exhausted eyes and seeing the tea, took it with trembling hands. She found it difficult to still herself enough to drink, but when she finally managed to take a sip she found gratefully that it soothed her raw throat, and managed to ease her crying just a little bit.

Aido exhaled with relief, glad that he had done at least something right. He caught sight of a blanket lying on his desk chair and picked it up, a peculiar idea coming to mind. He carried it through feeling increasingly foolish as he carefully forced himself to drape the soft layer of fabric around Yuuki's shoulders, proceeding to embarrass himself even_ more_ when he found himself attempting to tuck her in.

After that, all he could do was watch - watch, as she struggled inwardly to keep herself together. He found he couldn't help but pity her, and felt surprised that he regarded Yuuki with some sort of affection before locking the notion under lock and key in that familiar chest of denial.

Aido looked away, biting down on the innards of his cheeks with annoyance as he felt them burn a bright red.

In some way, the young pureblood seemed to remind him of his little sister – the one he hadn't seen for so long.

"T-thank y-you Aido-senpai…"

He turned with a shock. Yuuki was looking at him with thankful eyes, and had managed to block all tears from spilling from their watery orbs.

"You're welcome". He felt awkward – maybe he really just couldn't handle this, maybe he should've fetch someone capable of dealing with the fragile teenager from the start. Ruka maybe… or wait, that probably wasn't a good idea – plus, the idea had been to keep her in the dark.

"You wait here, Yuuki-sama. I'll bring Kaname-sama"

He walked briskly to the door and planted his hand on the doorknob at a brisk speed – before he heard a large crash behind him and felt something clutch his ankle, causing him to yelp with surprise.

"Please don't!"

She started weeping again, splayed out on the floor by his feet once more, the teacup laying broken nearby.

He jumped with alarm.

What was wrong with this girl? What had happened to make her into such a wreak?

"Why-?"

"I-I can't face him! I-I d-don't think I can do this!"

Yuuki lowered her head in shame, unable to stop her tears.

The blonde stood frozen, eyes narrowed with confusion.

"What do you m-?"

"I don't know who I am anymore! Help me… Aido-senpai! I-I don't think… I can marry Onii-sama tomorrow…"

Aido's eyes widened, shock rippling throughout his body – the room suddenly taking on a darker shade in his eyes than he had seen before.

"But I have no choice! I don't want to hurt Kaname-sama again!"

Yuuki's hand around Aido's ankle pulled down and he was barely aware of himself lowering down to her level on the floor. She was begging for help through both her body and trembling voice.

"But every second I stay here, I lose a piece of me – I'll become emptier and mellower until I can no longer recognize myself, until every time I speak – if I ever do – I hear the voice of someone else! ….How can I get myself marry him when I've come to realise that my own heart… is a stranger to me?"

She choked on her tears, her nails, which had previously been perfectly manicured, scraping across the wood floor.

Aido could find no response other than to stare at her shaking form with an open mouth and a spinning mind.

Never had Aido Hanabusa seen this one coming.

"Yuuki-sama…"

She looked up with wide eyes, then turned quickly – standing up to hide her face with her back.

"… there's nothing I can do! Tomorrow I'll marry him without complaint… and stay here for the rest of the my life."

"I…"

Hands grabbed his shoulders as she whipped around.

"You can't tell anyone, Aido! You can't let anyone find out that this is how I truly feel!"

Aido felt shaken – even his genius mind could not comprehend all that he was hearing – and he struggled on whether she was right. He knew Yuuki could never be happy the way she was now, that in a strange way even he, missed the smiley petite human girl he had enjoyed pestering before.

Yuuki forced him to stare her in the eyes.

"Promise me, Aido!"

The ex-night class student sighed.

"I promise"

* * *

**There you go! Chapter nine done! Look out for chapter ten which I'll try to send out as soon as I can. I've already written some of it so it's well on the way!**

**Your opinions are welcome as always, so please review if you can! **


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